A steering system for an articulated vehicle has a microprocessor
connected to a proportional solenoid valve which controls the direction,
amount and rate of flow of hydraulic fluid to and from hydraulic
articulation cylinders, which provide articulation between the frames of
the articulated vehicle. A positional feedback sensor measures the angle
of articulation between the frames and communicates the angle of
articulation to the processor. A gear sensor monitors the gear that the
vehicle is in and communicates it to the processor. A user input device
allows a user to select the desired level of steering sensitivity and
also allows the user to input the size of the tires installed on the
vehicle. A steering device allows the operator to provide steering input
and communicates electrical steering signals to the processor based on
the steering input from the operator. The processor controls the valve to
provide the steering response selected by the operator, to emulate
castoring so that the vehicle is returned to a straight ahead position in
the center position of the steering device, to vary the stop angle based
on the tire size and to gradually stop articulation at the stop angle, to
gradually start and stop articulation so as to avoid hydraulic hammering.
If the steering valve has a source of supply which is common to other
valves of the hydraulic system, the processor can also control all of the
valves to give priority to the steering valve. In addition, the interface
between the steering device and the processor is the same for different
types of steering devices, i.e., a steering wheel or a joystick, so that
different types of steering devices may be easily provided, depending on
a customer's request.