Nonlinear H∞ control for semi-active suspension

This paper describes the development of a damping control system for semi-active suspension which is based on nonlinear H_∞ control theory instead of conventional linear control theory. A two degrees of freedom system is used as the structure for the vehicle suspension model. Since the structure is bilinear, it's not easy to design the controller. We designed the controller based on the Hamilton-Jacobi inequality by solving a linear Riccati equation. We were able to verify by simulation that nonlinear H_∞ control theory made it possible to control vehicle vibration optimally and smoothly.     

Fault-tolerant yaw moment control with steer — and brake-by-wire devices

This paper presents an fault-tolerant yaw moment control for a vehicle with steer-by-wire (SBW) and brake-by-wire (BBW) devices. SBWs and BBWs can give active front steering (AFS) and electronic stability control (ESC) functions, respectively. Due to motor-driven devices, actuator and sensor faults are inherent in SBW and BBW, and can cause a critical damage to a vehicle. Simple direct yaw moment control is adopted to design a vehicle stability controller. To cope with actuator failure, weighted pseudo-inverse based control allocation (WPCA) with variable weights is proposed in yaw moment distribution procedure. Simulations on vehicle simulation software, CarSim®, show the proposed method is effective for fail safety.     

Relaxation of control over stock shares: not until 2006

Volkswagen in China is confronted with a serious of tough problems: its OEM parts are being used by one of the subsidiaries of SAIC without permission; FAW announced suddenly a close cooperation plan with Toyota; VW's market share as a whole in China is declining; because Chinese partners insist on more local procurement, the production cost has all along been high; VW's two partners in China have split the VW brands and done whatever they     

Run-off-road and recovery – state estimation and vehicle control strategies

Despite many advances in vehicle safety technology, traffic fatalities remain a devastating burden on society. With over two-thirds of all fatal single-vehicle crashes occurring off the roadway, run-off-road (ROR) crashes have become the focus of much roadway safety research. Current countermeasures, including roadway infrastructure modifications and some on-board vehicle safety systems, remain limited in their approach as they do not directly address the critical factor of driver behaviour. It has been shown that ROR crashes are often the result of poor driver performance leading up to the crash. In this study, the performance of two control algorithms, sliding control and linear quadratic control, was investigated for use in an autonomous ROR vehicle recovery system. The two controllers were simulated amongst a variety of ROR conditions where typical driver performance was inadequate to safely operate the vehicle. The sliding controller recovered the fastest within the nominal conditions but exhibited large variability in performance amongst the more extreme ROR scenarios. Despite some small sacrifices in lateral error and yaw rate, the linear quadratic controller demonstrated a higher level of consistency and stability amongst the various conditions examined. Overall, the linear quadratic controller recovered the vehicle 25% faster than the sliding controller while using 70% less steering, which combined with its robust performance, indicates its high potential as an autonomous ROR countermeasure.     

Stability and optimised H∞ control of tripped and untripped vehicle rollover

Vehicle rollover is a serious traffic accident. In order to accurately evaluate the possibility of untripped and some special tripped vehicle rollovers, and to prevent vehicle rollover under unpredictable variations of parameters and harsh driving conditions, a new rollover index and an anti-roll control strategy are proposed in this paper. Taking deflections of steering and suspension induced by the roll at the axles into consideration, a six degrees of freedom dynamic model is established, including lateral, yaw, roll, and vertical motions of sprung and unsprung masses. From the vehicle dynamics theory, a new rollover index is developed to predict vehicle rollover risk under both untripped and special tripped situations. This new rollover index is validated by Carsim simulations. In addition, an H-infinity controller with electro hydraulic brake system is optimised by genetic algorithm to improve the anti-rollover performance of the vehicle. The stability and robustness of the active rollover prevention control system are analysed by some numerical simulations. The results show that the control system can improve the critical speed of vehicle rollover obviously, and has a good robustness for variations in the number of passengers and longitude position of the centre of gravity.     

Direct yaw moment control and power consumption of in-wheel motor vehicle in steady-state turning

Driving force distribution control is one of the characteristic performance aspects of in-wheel motor vehicles and various methods have been developed to control direct yaw moment while turning. However, while these controls significantly enhance vehicle dynamic performance, the additional power required to control vehicle motion still remains to be clarified. This paper constructed new formulae of the mechanism by which direct yaw moment alters the cornering resistance and mechanical power of all wheels based on a simple bicycle model, including the electric loss of the motors and the inverters. These formulation results were validated by an actual test vehicle equipped with in-wheel motors in steady-state turning. The validated theory was also applied to a comparison of several different driving force distribution mechanisms from the standpoint of innate mechanical power.     

Evaluation of a vehicle directional control with a fractional order PD<Superscript>μ</Superscript> controller

In this paper, a novel controller, the fractional order PD^μ controller, is designed to improve the performance of the driver-vehicle system. First, fractional calculus and fractional order PI^λD^μ controller are introduced. A control algorithm for vehicle directional control using the fractional order PD^μ controller is then presented. Based on preview-follower theory, the on-line tuning method of the fractional order PD^μ controller is designed. By comparing simulated and experimental results, the validity and robustness of the proposed fractional order PD^μ controller in the closed loop system are verified. Finally, comprehensive evaluations are performed between the systems with the fractional order PD^μ controller and with an integer PD controller. The results demonstrate that the use of the fractional order controller leads to an improvement of the performance of the driver-vehicle system.     

TMD design for seismic vibration control of high-pier bridges in Sichuan–Tibet Railway and its influence on running trains

Sichuan–Tibet Railway plays a vital role in China’s transportation system by connecting Tibet and Central China, whose design and construction are extremely difficult due to numerous seismic zones and deep valleys along the railway line. This paper systematically presents a framework to control seismic vibration of T-beam bridges with high-piers in Sichuan–Tibet Railway using tuned mass dampers (TMDs). Firstly, a finite element model of the widely used high-pier bridge is established to reveal its vibration modes subject to earthquakes. On this basis, optimal installation locations and optimal parameters of the TMDs are determined. Then, vibration reduction effects of the designed TMDs on the high-pier bridge subject to actual earthquake samples are investigated and compared with that of using some other vibration absorption measures. Finally, a detailed train-track-bridge dynamic model with attached TMDs is established to study the effects of the designed TMDs on the seismic responses of the running trains. The results indicate that, for the high-pier T-beam bridges, the first bending vibration mode of the high-pier is most likely to be excited by earthquakes, which should be restrained. With the designed optimal parameters, the attached TMDs are effective to control seismic vibrations of the concerned high-pier bridges. Tuned mass damper is the best one among all the investigated measures to absorb vibrations subject to earthquakes from the perspective of vibration absorption performance, installation and maintenance.     

Research on exhaust emission control characteristics of a natural gas vehicle — Characteristics of methane oxidation reaction of three-way catalysts

Model gas reaction experiments were conducted to analyze the factors causing the conversion rate of hydrocarbons (consisting mainly of CH₄) to decline in the lean-mixture region, using a natural gas engine fitted with a three-way catalyst. The results showed that there was no decline in the conversion rate of methane in CH₄-O₂ reactions in the lean-mixture region. However, it was observed that oxidation of CH₄ was suppressed when either H₂O or NO was also present. It is thought that prior adsorption of H₂O and NO inhibits adsorption of CH₄ at active sites, resulting in a lower conversion rate.     

Regulations for the control of auto financial companiesSupervision & Administration Committee on China''''s Banking Industry (hereinafter referred to as SACCBI)

These Regulations are formulated for the purpose of fulfilling the need of auto finance service development and regulating the actions of non-banking financial institutions in conducting auto finance business, in accordance with relevant laws and administrative rules and regulations.