Battlefield reconnaissance is an integral part of today's integrated battlefield management system. Current reconnaissance technology typically requires land based vehicle systems to observe while stationary or, at best, significantly limits travel speeds while collecting data. By combining current Canadian Light Armored Vehicle based reconnaissance systems with the Center for Electromechanics (CEM) electronically controlled active Electromechanical Suspension System (EMS), opportunities exist to substantially increase cross-country speeds at which useful reconnaissance data may be collected. This report documents a study performed by The University of Texas Center for Electromechanics with funding from L3-ES to use existing modeling and simulation tools to explore potential benefits provided by EMS for reconnaissance on the move.
In both peak performance metrics and PSD analyses, the Fully Active Electronic Suspension systems proved their superior performance over Hybrid Active systems, Semi Active systems, and Passive systems. Peak body response measurements, accelerations, forces, and torques were consistently lower over aggressive off-road terrain with typical improvements being 80 to 90% lower than the stock passive vehicle. PSD and transfer function analyses of the payload accelerations revealed orders of magnitude improvement. Given these results it may be possible for reconnaissance operations to be carried out over aggressive cross country terrains at speeds of 10-15 MPH vs. conventional stationary operation.