STEERING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A TRAIN OF WHEELED VEHICLES

A steering system and method for steering a plurality of vehicles arranged in a train with adjacent vehicles pivotally connected to each other for movement about a vertical axis. Each vehicle (10) has a pair of wheels (64 & 62) mounted on opposite sides of the vehicle steerable by a power actuator mechanism. An electrical control system automatically steers all of the wheels trailing behind the leading pair. Vehicle angle sensors measure intercar angles between adjacent vehicles and provide this information to the control system. An indicator provides the controller with the current distance travelled by the train. Wheel angle sensors provide signals indicative of the current steering angle for each wheel pair. The controller adjusts the actual steering angle for each trailing pair to a desired angle by calculating adjustments based on the measurement inputs.