LifeTrac Requirements

LifeTrac 6 is our latest release of the tractor, from which we define further requirements based on our learnings:

1. Skid steering and steering column is depracated as non-generalizable to both large-scale wheeled and tracked machines. See notes on Steering below.

Discussion

1. Steering - The steering column is an industry standard way to achieve steering and will be used in high-speed OSE vehicles such as MicroCar and Tractor - above 45 mph. For slow moving machines such as tractors, this is not necessary, nor is the steering column applicable to/interchangeable between both tracked and wheeled machines at the same time (Principle of Multipurpose Flexibility). The most robust, and fully scalable route to low-speed steering is articulation. In the limit of deka-ton wheeled machines, skid steering is not feasible, unless expensive shaft mounting is used such as in industry-standard bulldozers. For the OSE case, we are sticking to non-machined shafts which rely on low axial thrust to prevent axial slippage of the shafts within bearings - where axial thrust is minimized via articulation. In the articulated steering case, OSE proposes that clamping only, combined with standard off-shelf 4-bolt flange bearings - is a route to simple wheel mounting. This allows such shafts to be maintained or replaced in the field without the need for machining - such that this technology can be maintained in areas far removed from industrial supply chains.