: The principal objective of this paper was to evaluate the steering characteristics of a tandem tracked vehicle, each side of which features two tandem tracks, when crawling on extremely cohesive soft soil. The tandem tracked vehicle is assumed to be a rigid-body with 6-dof. The dynamic analysis program of the tandem tracked vehicle was developed via Newmark's method and the incremental-iterative method. A terra-mechanics model of extremely cohesive soft soil was implemented according to the relationships of normal pressure to sinkage, of shear resistance to shear displacement, and of dynamic sinkage to shear displacement. In order to simplify the characteristics of contact interaction between track segments and cohesive soft soil, the characteristics of soil are equated to the properties of intact soil. In an effort to evaluate the steering characteristics of a tandem tracked vehicle crawling on extremely cohesive soft soil, a series of dynamic simulations were conducted for a tandem tracked vehicle model with respect to the front and rear steering angle, the steering ratio, and the initial velocity.

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: Inshore tests were performed in order to verify the design concept of deep sea manganese nodule miner at a site near Hupo at East Sea of Korea in June of 2009. Total mining tests of the test miner, named 'Minero ® ', together with flexible hose, lifting pump and lifting hose were accomplished. In this study, the performances of three subsystems of testminer (vehicle, pick-up device, and launch-and-recovery device) were analyzed for feasibility assessment of self-propelled remotely controlled miner, and also to compile basic data for designing a pilotminer. Performances of the test miner were defined based on the Functional Requirements of Axiomatic Design. The inshore tests revealed that the test miner generally satisfies the functional performances. Feasibility assessment and reflection on results are discussed within.

: A test miner named MineRo was constructed for the purpose of shallow water test of mining performance. In June of 2009, the performance test was conducted in depth of 100 m, 5 km away from Hupo-port (Korean East Sea), to assess if the developed system is able to collect and lift manganese nodules from seafloor. In August of 2010, in-situ test of automatic path tracking control of MineRo was performed in depth of 120 m at the same site. For path tracking control, a localization algorithm determining MineRo's position on seabed is prerequisite. This study proposes an improved underwater navigation algorithm through estimation of MineRo's kinematic parameters. In general, the kinematic parameters such as track slips and slip angle are indirectly calculated using the position data from USBL (Ultra-Short Base Line) system and heading data from gyro sensors. However, the obtained data values are likely to be different from the real values, primarily due to the random noise of position data. The aim of this study is to enhance the reliability of the algorithm by measuring kinematic parameters, track slips and slip angle.

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