The idea of creating an all-terrain vehicle came up with us, as a concept, in early 2017. We had experience with the all-terrain vehicle Argo in winter conditions and spring thaw in the tundra and the Siberian taiga. Currently, the Argo all-terrain vehicle is the best amphibious all-terrain vehicle in the class of small vehicles (which can be transported in a car trailer) for traveling over rough terrain. There are certainly more comfortable amphibious all-terrain vehicles such as Sherp, BigBo or Hagglunds, but their dimensions and weight do not allow them to be transported in a trailer. These are big serious and very expensive (!) cars the size of a small tank. We sought to create an all-terrain vehicle with dimensions slightly larger than a conventional ATV. Despite the fact that the all-terrain vehicle Argo is the best so far, it has many serious problems that affect both cross-country ability, comfort, and the possibility of its use. Moreover, these problems are inherent in his system itself and it is impossible to solve them in the conditions of a conventional mechanical transmission.
We are going to list these problems:
• low clearance – The all-terrain vehicle gets stuck in any wet snow or sticky dirt, it cannot move on a track of trucks as well.
• noise from the engine and exhaust system – This problem can be solved, but it is very difficult. To do this, you need to create engines specifically for this technique, soundproof the engine compartment and install a large exhaust system. The solution to this problem requires a lot of money and overweight equipment so it is essentially an unsolvable problem.
• lack of suspension – Anyone who has ever driven Argo all-terrain vehicles or similar cross-country vehicles knows perfectly well that any bump or any other obstacle is depreciated by the buttocks and spine of the driver and passengers. You can certainly bulk up the buttocks or use travel pillows, but the spine cannot be bulked. Hernias, visits to a chiropractor, and sometimes even disability are all the results of using off-road equipment without suspension.
We thought how to solve these emerging problems and found several solutions.
1. You can rebuild the mechanical transmission so that there is no single axis of rotation for each pair of wheels and the mechanical transmission is higher than the axis of rotation of the wheel. It is technically possible and there are even a number of cars that are made that way. But the pay for this is a huge weight and, most importantly, absolute unreliability of such a transmission. It can fail from colliding with any obstacle at high speed.
2. Hydraulic transmission. This is ideal for off-road properties. Hydraulic transmission allows you to create maximum torque, with the weakest engine. But there are a couple of serious problems. To begin with, hydraulics do not work at temperatures below -30 ° C. The second problem is that the hydraulics are flowing. It is clear that in the store, on a completely new technique this will not be a problem. But if you have been using the equipment even a little, the fittings and cuffs will start to miss. Imagine you drive in a lake or a stream, and an oil trail stretches behind you.
3. Electric transmission. She has a number of problems, but if you solve them, then you can make the perfect off-road equipment. Which we actually implemented on our all-terrain vehicle.
Having stopped on electric transmission we began to think over how our equipment will look and how it will be arranged. We didn’t have any common understanding. The first samples created by designers looked like aliens from outer space.
But design drawings are one thing, while a working prototype is another. Henry Ford began to make his cars in the garage, we also went this way. We drew the simplest metal body in the AutoCAD and then welded it. The case itself was glued with fiberglass and painted green.
That’s what we got.
We took the rubber-harness suspension from automobile trailers. Then we created leverage for our wheels. The wheels themselves were taken from powerful electric scooters and light cars.
Naturally, there were a lot of problems, how to synchronize all the wheels, how to make them work together and how to drive them. But since there were talented electrical engineers in our team, we dealt with this problem. To test the work, we used a car stand.
Having tested our all-terrain vehicle at the stand, we were able to fully adjust the electronic brains of our brainchild.
Tires from a scooter did not suit us, so we took mud tires from an ATV. We had to work out the brake system and steering for a long time, as it was necessary to think over and implement the braking of all wheels as well as to create a convenient and understandable control system for consumers.
As a result, we created a working prototype that could drive around and deploy in one place. It could also turn round in different directions in one place.
After we had created the working prototype, we still had some unresolved problems.
1. The first was the suspension. It turned out that the rubber-harness suspension we used was poorly suited for an all-terrain vehicle. It had too little progress, uncomfortable depreciation and it is impossible to adjust. As a way out, our talented engineers converted the suspension to ATV shock absorbers.
2. The second problem was the appearance of the body of the all-terrain vehicle. As a working prototype, the view was quite fine with us. But it did not suit the people around us. Everyone who saw the all-terrain vehicle noted its outstanding running data but didn’t want to accept its form. We again turned to the designers and already having the idea of what we needed we got much more interesting pictures.
Having received these forms, the team of design engineers began further work. It was necessary, within the framework of the form, to create a new body, calculate all its loads, prepare and implement a new suspension system; to rationally place the entire control system and all the batteries; and to prepare the interior space of the all-terrain vehicle for the most comfortable use.
On the whole, tremendous work had been done. Eventually, we received technical documentation for future reference.
The final part remained: to make a metal frame, sheathe it with fiberglass and assemble on this basis all the mechanisms.