Field and Laboratory Measurement of ATV Vertical Motion Characteristics

This paper describes the application of a video-based data acquisition and analysis system to examine the influence of suspension system design in field tests of the ride quality of All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). Position coordinate (X-Y) time histories of targets on the rider and ATV were measured during obstacle encounter experiments using 14 vehicles and 3 riders. Target displacements, velocities, and accelerations were calculated from the data, and the results were compared to simplified two- and four-degrees of freedom vibrational analyses of the vehicles. These results were correlated to accelerometer data from a laboratory based whole vehicle drop test.