Driving dynamics of a dual-vehicle serial anchoring machine with a quadruple crawler tracked system

We present a novel dual-vehicle serial anchoring machine equipped with a quadruple tracked system, designed to enhance excavation efficiency and operational safety in confined underground environments. Conventional parallel anchoring machines often fail to accommodate the spatial constraints of narrow mine tunnels; our serial configuration overcomes this dimensional limitation. A critical challenge, mismatched motion between front and rear track units, was systematically addressed through a physics-based vehicle-terrain contact dynamics model. The model was implemented in RecurDyn multibody simulation software and evaluated under three representative operating conditions: synchronized motion, asynchronous compression, and active traction modes. Simulation results show strong agreement with experimental data from a 1:1 physical scale prototype, with an average relative error in dynamic response below 5%. This study not only demonstrates a viable new architecture for underground anchoring but also establishes a validated framework for coordinated motion control in multi-unit tracked vehicles, offering a scalable solution for real-world deployment.