A comparison of two fundamental steering approaches for small autonomous vehicles: Ackerman steering and skid-steering. Ackerman steering uses pivoting front wheels, is more energy-efficient, has less wheel slip (making it better for encoder-based dead-reckoning), but cannot do zero-turn maneuvers. Skid-steering uses differential wheel speeds, enables near-zero-turn capability, is mechanically simpler, but introduces tire slip that undermines odometry accuracy. The choice between them depends on terrain, environment, and navigation requirements.
