The Xspire chassis features a front and rear double Ackermann steering structure, enabling full-wheel coordinated steering control, supporting zero turning radius and dynamic path planning, and offering flexible handling. Based on a vehicle-grade CAN bus architecture, it deeply integrates drive, steering, braking, and parking systems, ensuring real-time and stable multi-module coordinated control.It also provides standardized CAN bus communication protocol interfaces, supporting user-defined development and functional customization.By mounting diverse upper-level components (such as cargo boxes, robotic arms, lidar, and visual sensors), it can quickly adapt to the following application requirements:

Intelligent Logistics and Warehousing: AGV autonomous transport vehicles, container handling equipment for ports

Outdoor Operations and Inspection: Agricultural spraying robots, power line inspection robots, campus security patrol robots.

Scientific Research and Education: ROS-based robot development platforms, motion control teaching labs, AI algorithm verification systems

1. Steering System (Front and Rear Dual Ackermann Structure)

Front/Rear Ackermann Steering Mechanism: Based on a trapezoidal linkage mechanical structure, it enables differential steering angles between the inner and outer wheels (with a larger turning angle for the inner wheel), ensuring pure rolling during turns and minimizing tire wear.

Omni-directional Maneuverability: The dual front-rear Ackermann design supports complex motion patterns such as zero turning radius, diagonal movement , and on-the-spot rotation, enhancing agility and adaptability in tight spaces.

Steering Execution Unit: Equipped with high-precision servo motors or Electric Power Steering (EPS) modules, it receives steering commands via the CAN bus and adjusts the steering angle in real time to ensure precise control.

2. Drive System

Distributed Drive Units: Each wheel is equipped with an independent brushless DC motor (BLDC) or hub motor, delivering high torque output and precise speed control.

Differential Coordination Control: Adapts to varying wheel speeds under different turning radii, ensuring smooth and stable cornering performance.

Drive Controller (Motor Controller): Receives speed commands via the CAN bus and dynamically allocates driving power to each wheel, enabling efficient energy utilization and stable motion control under various operating conditions.

3. Braking and Parking System

Electronic Braking Module (E-Brake): Features independent electronic hydraulic braking on all four wheels, supporting emergency stop , hill hold parking , and regenerative braking. Integrated with Steering System, responds rapidly to path planning commands during emergency situations.

Parking Lock Mechanism: Equipped with mechanical or electromagnetic parking device , allowing remote control of robot positioning and secure parking via the CAN bus.

4. CAN Bus Control System

Central Control Unit (Vehicle Control Unit, VCU): An industrial-grade microprocessor or embedded controller, responsible for coordinates real-time interaction among the drive, steering, braking, and parking systems.

Pre-installed Control Algorithms: Includes fundamental control logic such as the Ackermann kinematic model and PID path tracking , while also supporting user-defined logic development for custom applications.

CAN Communication Interface: Provides standardized CAN 2.0B protocol stack and data frame definition, and opens up low-level control permissions (such as motor speed, steering angle, and brake pressure).

Integration with External Devices:

Supports seamless integration with external devices (such as lidar, vision sensors, and ROS systems).

5. Power Management System

High-Capacity Battery Pack: Equipped with lithium-ion batteries or supercapacitors to meet long-duration operational requirements under high-load conditions.

Intelligent BMS (Battery Management System): Real-time monitoring of voltage, current, and temperature to optimize charging and discharging efficiency while ensuring system safety and battery longevity.

6. Upper Component Expansion Interfaces

Standardized Mechanical Mounting Points: Pre-designed mounting holes for cargo racks, robotic arm bases, sensor gimbals, and other modules, enabling rapid integration for logistics, inspection, research, and other application scenarios.

Multi-Protocol Peripheral Interfaces: Supports a variety of physical interfaces including RS485, Ethernet, and GPIO, compatible with sensors such as LiDAR , IMU , GPS , and cameras. Software Development Kit (SDK):Provides CAN protocol parsing libraries, motion control APIs, ROS drivers, and sample code to significantly reduce the barrier for secondary development and customization.

7. Safety and Redundancy Design

Multi-Level Fault Protection Mechanism: Integrates hardware watchdogs and software heartbeat detection to prevent system out of control caused by communication interruptions or module failures, ensuring stable and safe operation.

Redundant CAN Network: Features a dual-channel CAN bus architecture , with independent communication channels for critical systems (steering and braking), significantly enhancing system reliability and fault tolerance.

Emergency Stop Button (E-Stop): A physical emergency stop switch directly connected to the main power circuit, supporting remote wireless triggering to ensure rapid and reliable response in emergency situations.

The Ackermann chassis is based on the Ackermann steering geometry, which uses a mechanical linkage to ensure that the inner and outer front wheels turn at different angles during a maneuver (inner wheel turning at a greater angle than the outer wheel).

This design allows all wheels to rotate around the same instantaneous center of rotation during a turn, minimizing tire sideways slip and wear, while improving steering efficiency and vehicle handling stability.

Ackermann steering geometry is widely used in a variety of scenarios due to its efficient steering efficiency and mechanical reliability. It is particularly suitable for environments that require long-distance straight-line driving, low-energy steering, or fixed path planning.