Integrated control of ground vehicles dynamics via advanced terminal sliding mode control

An integrated vehicle dynamics control (IVDC) algorithm, developed for improving vehicle handling and stability under critical lateral motions, is discussed in this paper. The IVDC system utilises integral and nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (NFTSM) control strategies and coordinates active front steering (AFS) and direct yaw moment control (DYC) systems. When the vehicle is in the normal driving situation, the AFS system provides handling enhancement. If the vehicle reaches its handling limit, both AFS and DYC are then integrated to ensure the vehicle stability. The major contribution of this paper is in improving the transient response of the vehicle yaw rate and sideslip angle tracking controllers by implementing advanced types of sliding mode strategies, namely integral terminal sliding mode and NFTSM, in the IVDC system. Simulation results demonstrate that the developed control algorithm for the IVDC system not only has strong robustness against uncertainties but also improves the transient response of the control system.     

Chassis integrated control for active suspension,active front steering and direct yaw moment systems using hierarchical strategy

This paper proposes a novel integrated controller with three-layer hierarchical structure to coordinate the interactions among active suspension system (ASS), active front steering (AFS) and direct yaw moment control (DYC). First of all, a 14-degree-of-freedom nonlinear vehicle dynamic model is constructed. Then, an upper layer is designed to calculate the total corrected moment for ASS and intermediate layer based on linear moment distribution. By considering the working regions of the AFS and DYC, the intermediate layer is functionalised to determine the trigger signal for the lower layer with corresponding weights. The lower layer is utilised to separately trace the desired value of each local controller and achieve the local control objectives of each subsystem. Simulation results show that the proposed three-layer hierarchical structure is effective in handling the working region of the AFS and DYC, while the quasi-experimental result shows that the proposed integrated controller is able to improve the lateral and vertical dynamics of the vehicle effectively as compared with a conventional electronic stability controller.     

基于NMPC的智能汽车纵横向综合轨迹跟踪控制

本文中针对大曲率转弯工况下,智能汽车纵横向动力学特性的耦合和动力学约束导致轨迹跟踪精度和稳定性下降的问题,提出一种基于非线性模型预测控制(NMPC)的纵横向综合轨迹跟踪控制方法,通过NMPC和障碍函数法(BM)的有效结合,提高了跟踪精度,改善了行驶稳定性.首先建立四轮驱动-前轮转向智能汽车动力学模型和轨迹跟踪模型,采用...     

Vehicle dynamics control by using a three-dimensional stabilizer pendulum system

Active safety systems of a vehicle normally work well on tyre–road interactions, however, these systems deteriorate in performance on low-friction road conditions. To combat this effect, an innovative idea for the yaw moment and roll dynamic control is presented in this paper. This idea was inspired by the chase and run dynamics animals like cheetahs in the nature; cheetahs have the ability to swerve while running at very high speeds. A cheetah controls its dynamics by rotating its long tail. A three-dimensional stabilizer pendulum system (3D-SPS) resembles the rotational motion of the tail of a cheetah to improve the stability and safety of a vehicle. The idea has been developed in a stand-alone 3D stabilizer pendulum system as well as in an integrated control system, which consists of an ordinary differential braking direct yaw control (DYC) and active steering control that is assisted by the 3D-SPS. The performance of the proposed 3D-SPS has been evaluated over a wide range of handling manoeuvres by using a comprehensive numerical simulation. The results show the advantage of 3D-SPS over conventional control approaches, which are ineffective on low-friction road conditions and high lateral acceleration manoeuvres. It should however be noted that the best vehicle dynamics performance is obtained when an integrated 3D-SPS and DYC and AFS is utilised.     

Integrated fuzzy/optimal vehicle dynamic control

There are basically two methods to control yaw moment which is the most efficient way to improve vehicle stability and handling. The first method is indirect yaw moment control, which works based on control of the lateral tire force through steering angle control. It is mainly known as active steering control (ASC). Nowadays, the most practical approach to steering control is active front steering (AFS). The other method is direct yaw moment control (DYC), in which an unequal distribution of longitudinal tire forces (mainly braking forces) produces a compensating external yaw moment. It is well known that the AFS performance is limited in the non-linear vehicle handling region. On the other hand, in spite of a good performance of DYC in both the linear and non-linear vehicle handling regions, continued DYC activation could lead to uncomfortable driving conditions and an increase in the stopping distance in the case of emergency braking. It is recommended that DYC be used only in high-g critical maneuvers. In this paper, an integrated fuzzy/optimal AFS/DYC controller has been designed. The control system includes five individual optimal LQR control strategies; each one, has been designed for a specific driving condition. The strategies can cover low, medium, and high lateral acceleration maneuvers on high-μ or low-μ roads. A fuzzy blending logic also has been utilized to mange each LQR control strategy contribution level in the final control action. The simulation results show the advantages of the proposed control system over the individual AFS or DYC controllers.     

Nonlinear optimal integrated vehicle control using individual braking torque and steering angle with on-line control allocation by using state-dependent Riccati equation technique

This paper proposes the solution of state-dependent Riccati equation as a nonlinear optimal regulator to stabilise the motion dynamics of the vehicle model subjected to sudden disturbance inputs in the lateral direction. The proposed nonlinear regulator coordinates individually actuated wheel braking torque and steering wheel angle simultaneously in an optimal manner. Performance criteria are satisfied by solving the Riccati equation based on the given cost function subjected to the nonlinear vehicle dynamics. On-line control allocation in terms of optimal brake torque distribution enhanced by optimal wheel steering angle input is achieved. Furthermore, the proposed optimal nonlinear regulator is an active fault-tolerant control system against partial by-wire actuator failures while guaranteeing stability with good performance due to its capability to allocate the individual control inputs in an optimal way. The main aim is to stabilise the motion dynamics of the vehicle model during short-term emergency situations along the desired straight trajectory manageable by average drivers and to provide vehicle stability and handling predictability through the interaction of individual wheel braking and steering actuators. Simulation results are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Drive control system design for stability and maneuverability of a 6WD/6WS vehicle

This paper describes a drive controller designed to improve the lateral vehicle stability and maneuverability of a 6-wheel drive / 6-wheel steering (6WD/6WS) vehicle. The drive controller consists of upper and lower level controllers. The upper level controller is based on sliding control theory and determines both front and middle steering angle, additional net yaw moment, and longitudinal net force according to the reference velocity and steering angle of a manual drive, remotely controlled, autonomous controller. The lower level controller takes the desired longitudinal net force, yaw moment, and tire force information as inputs and determines the additional front steering angle and distributed longitudinal tire force on each wheel. This controller is based on optimal distribution control and takes into consideration the friction circle related to the vertical tire force and friction coefficient acting on the road and tire. Distributed longitudinal/lateral tire forces are determined as proportion to the size of the friction circle according to changes in driving conditions. The response of the 6WD/6WS vehicle implemented with this drive controller has been evaluated via computer simulations conducted using the Matlab/Simulink dynamic model. Computer simulations of an open loop under turning conditions and a closed-loop driver model subjected to double lane change have been conducted to demonstrate the improved performance of the proposed drive controller over that of a conventional DYC.     

Optimal preview game theory approach to vehicle stability controller design

Dynamic game theory brings together different features that are keys to many situations in control design: optimisation behaviour, the presence of multiple agents/players, enduring consequences of decisions and robustness with respect to variability in the environment, etc. In the presented methodology, vehicle stability is represented by a cooperative dynamic/difference game such that its two agents (players), namely the driver and the direct yaw controller (DYC), are working together to provide more stability to the vehicle system. While the driver provides the steering wheel control, the DYC control algorithm is obtained by the Nash game theory to ensure optimal performance as well as robustness to disturbances. The common two-degrees-of-freedom vehicle-handling performance model is put into discrete form to develop the game equations of motion. To evaluate the developed control algorithm, CarSim with its built-in nonlinear vehicle model along with the Pacejka tire model is used. The control algorithm is evaluated for a lane change manoeuvre, and the optimal set of steering angle and corrective yaw moment is calculated and fed to the test vehicle. Simulation results show that the optimal preview control algorithm can significantly reduce lateral velocity, yaw rate, and roll angle, which all contribute to enhancing vehicle stability.     

认知分心对车辆跟驰过程操控安全性的影响

为了研究车辆跟驰过程中驾驶人认知分心与驾驶安全的关系,采用驾驶模拟器构建城市道路车辆跟驰场景,并设计3种难度等级的认知分心次任务,采集35名被试驾驶人在试验过程中的方向盘转角、油门开度、制动踏板力等操作参数,以及车辆位置、速度、加速度等车辆运动参数。采用重复测量一般线性模型,分析不同等级认知分心对上述参数的影响。研究结果表明：在横向操控方面,随着认知分心程度增高,方向盘回转率增大,但车辆横向位置标准差减小,表明驾驶人处于认知分心时,采取频繁修正方向盘的补偿方式,降低车辆横向位置波动,过度补偿车辆横向安全性,且该补偿行为与认知分心程度正相关;在纵向操控方面,认知分心时,油门开度、制动踏板位置方差增大,且制动踏板位置均值增大,同时车头间距及时距未观察到显著性变化,表明认知分心时驾驶人采取频繁操作油门、制动踏板,增大制动幅度等方式进行补偿,使车头间距及车头时距等表征车辆纵向跟车安全性参数处于正常驾驶水平,但加速度标准差增大,表明跟车稳定性降低。研究结果为涉及分心的人车交互装置优化设计及考虑分心状态的驾驶人状态管理系统开发提供了一定的理论依据。     

Lateral handling improvement with dynamic curvature control for an independent rear wheel drive EV

The integrated longitudinal and lateral dynamic motion control is important for four wheel independent drive (4WID) electric vehicles. Under critical driving conditions, direct yaw moment control (DYC) has been proved as effective for vehicle handling stability and maneuverability by implementing optimized torque distribution of each wheel, especially with independent wheel drive electric vehicles. The intended vehicle path upon driver steering input is heavily depending on the instantaneous vehicle speed, body side slip and yaw rate of a vehicle, which can directly affect the steering effort of driver. In this paper, we propose a dynamic curvature controller (DCC) by applying a the dynamic curvature of the path, derived from vehicle dynamic state variables; yaw rate, side slip angle, and speed of a vehicle. The proposed controller, combined with DYC and wheel longitudinal slip control, is to utilize the dynamic curvature as a target control parameter for a feedback, avoiding estimating the vehicle side-slip angle. The effectiveness of the proposed controller, in view of stability and improved handling, has been validated with numerical simulations and a series of experiments during cornering engaging a disturbance torque driven by two rear independent in-wheel motors of a 4WD micro electric vehicle.     

Dynamic Estimation of Road Bank Angle

Road bank angles have a direct influence on vehicle dynamics and lateral acceleration measurement. A vehicle stability control system that knows road bank angle has an advantageous capability in achieving desired control sensitivities for maneuvers on ice and snow, among all surfaces, while avoiding false/nuisance activation on a banked road. Since neither lateral velocity nor road bank angle are directly measurable in current vehicle systems due to economical reasons, the major challenge is to differentiate the bias induced by road bank disturbances from actual effect of vehicle lateral dynamics in current measurements. This paper proposes a method of road bank estimation and provides theoretical background for the decoupling effort of lateral dynamics and road disturbances involved in bank estimation.     

Dynamic Estimation of Road Bank Angle

Road bank angles have a direct influence on vehicle dynamics and lateral acceleration measurement. A vehicle stability control system that knows road bank angle has an advantageous capability in achieving desired control sensitivities for maneuvers on ice and snow, among all surfaces, while avoiding false/nuisance activation on a banked road. Since neither lateral velocity nor road bank angle are directly measurable in current vehicle systems due to economical reasons, the major challenge is to differentiate the bias induced by road bank disturbances from actual effect of vehicle lateral dynamics in current measurements. This paper proposes a method of road bank estimation and provides theoretical background for the decoupling effort of lateral dynamics and road disturbances involved in bank estimation.     

基于微分几何的四轮独立驱动车辆运动解耦控制研究

针对车辆在纵向运动和横摆运动时的强耦合关系给车辆动力学控制带来的困难，以四轮独立电驱动车辆作为研究对象，基于微分几何理论设计了车辆系统运动解耦控制方法，将非线性强耦合的四轮驱动车辆动力学系统解耦为纵向和横向两个相对独立运动控制子系统，并设计了鲁棒控制器，以提高抵抗车辆行驶时不确定外力如侧风的干扰能力。基于 Trucksim 软件建立四轮驱动车辆模型，并针对车辆解耦控制策略和抗干扰策略进行了仿真测试。结果表明，相比于无解耦控制的车辆，采用微分几何解耦控制的四轮独立驱动车辆纵向速度偏差降低了 82.1%，横摆角速度偏差降低了80.7%，且微风干扰下的抗干扰能力明显改善，车辆稳定性显著提升。为验证该运动解耦控制策略在实时系统中的控制效果，还进行了硬件在环试验，结果表明，硬件在环试验的结果与仿真结果一致。     

基于深度强化学习的车辆跟驰控制

针对自适应巡航控制系统在控制主车跟驰行驶中受前车运动状态的不确定性影响问题，在分析车辆运动特点的基础上，提出一种能够考虑前车运动随机性的跟驰控制策略。搭建驾驶人实车驾驶数据采集平台，招募驾驶人进行实车跟驰道路试验，建立驾驶人真实驾驶数据库。假设车辆未来时刻的加速度决策主要受前方目标车辆运动影响，建立基于双前车跟驰结构的主车纵向控制架构。将驾驶数据库中的驾驶数据分别视作前车和前前车运动变化历程，利用高斯过程算法建立了前车纵向加速度变化随机过程模型，实现对前方目标车运动状态分布的概率性建模。将车辆跟驰问题构建为一定奖励函数下的马尔可夫决策过程，引入深度强化学习研究主车跟驰控制问题。利用近端策略优化算法建立车辆跟驰控制策略，通过与前车运动随机过程模型进行交互式迭代学习，得到具有运动不确定性跟驰环境下的主车纵向控制策略，实现对车辆纵向控制的最优决策。最后基于真实驾驶数据，对控制策略进行测试。研究结果表明：该策略建立了车辆纵向控制与主车和双前车状态之间的映射关系，在迭代学习过程中对前车运动的随机性进行考虑，跟驰控制中不需要对前车运动进行额外的概率预测，能够以较低的计算量实现主车稳定跟随前车行驶。     

A novel vehicle dynamics stability control algorithm based on the hierarchical strategy with constrain of nonlinear tyre forces

Direct yaw moment control (DYC), which differentially brakes the wheels to produce a yaw moment for the vehicle stability in a steering process, is an important part of electric stability control system. In this field, most control methods utilise the active brake pressure with a feedback controller to adjust the braked wheel. However, the method might lead to a control delay or overshoot because of the lack of a quantitative project relationship between target values from the upper stability controller to the lower pressure controller. Meanwhile, the stability controller usually ignores the implementing ability of the tyre forces, which might be restrained by the combined-slip dynamics of the tyre. Therefore, a novel control algorithm of DYC based on the hierarchical control strategy is brought forward in this paper. As for the upper controller, a correctional linear quadratic regulator, which not only contains feedback control but also contains feed forward control, is introduced to deduce the object of the stability yaw moment in order to guarantee the yaw rate and side-slip angle stability. As for the medium and lower controller, the quantitative relationship between the vehicle stability object and the target tyre forces of controlled wheels is proposed to achieve smooth control performance based on a combined-slip tyre model. The simulations with the hardware-in-the-loop platform validate that the proposed algorithm can improve the stability of the vehicle effectively.     

Combined longitudinal and lateral control for automated vehicle guidance

This paper deals with the longitudinal and lateral control of an automotive vehicle within the framework of fully automated guidance. The automotive vehicle is a complex system characterised by highly nonlinear longitudinal and lateral coupled dynamics. Consequently, automated guidance must be simultaneously performed with longitudinal and lateral control. This work presents an automated steering strategy based on nonlinear model predictive control. A nonlinear longitudinal control strategy considering powertrain dynamics is also proposed to cope with the longitudinal speed tracking problem. Finally, a simultaneous longitudinal and lateral control strategy helps to improve the combined control performance. This whole control strategy is tested through simulations showing the effectiveness of the present approach.     

Robust cascade control for the horizontal motion of a vehicle with single-wheel actuators

The article presents a cascade control for the horizontal motion of a vehicle with single-wheel actuators. The outer control loop for the longitudinal and lateral accelerations and the yaw rate ensures a desired vehicle motion. By a combination of state feedback control and observer-based disturbance feedforward the inner control loop robustly stabilises the rotating and steering motions of the wheels in spite of unknown frictions between tyres and ground. Since the three degrees of freedom of the horizontal motion are affected by eight tyre forces, the vehicle considered is an over-actuated system. Thus additional control objectives can be realised besides the desired motion trajectory as, for example, a maximum in driving safety. The corresponding analytical tyre force allocation also guarantees real-time capability because of its relatively low computational effort. Provided suitable fault detection and isolation are available, the proposed cascade control has the potential of fault-tolerance, because the force allocation is adaptable. Another benefit results from the modular control structure, because it allows a stepwise implementation. Besides, it only requires a small number of measurements for control purposes. These measurements are the rotational speeds and steering angles of the wheels, the longitudinal and lateral acceleration and the yaw rate of the vehicle.     

Self-tuning control algorithm design for vehicle adaptive cruise control system through real-time estimation of vehicle parameters and road grade

The main purpose of this paper is to design a self-tuning control algorithm for an adaptive cruise control (ACC) system that can adapt its behaviour to variations of vehicle dynamics and uncertain road grade. To this aim, short-time linear quadratic form (STLQF) estimation technique is developed so as to track simultaneously the trend of the time-varying parameters of vehicle longitudinal dynamics with a small delay. These parameters are vehicle mass, road grade and aerodynamic drag-area coefficient. Next, the values of estimated parameters are used to tune the throttle and brake control inputs and to regulate the throttle/brake switching logic that governs the throttle and brake switching. The performance of the designed STLQF-based self-tuning control (STLQF-STC) algorithm for ACC system is compared with the conventional method based on fixed control structure regarding the speed/distance tracking control modes. Simulation results show that the proposed control algorithm improves the performance of throttle and brake controllers, providing more comfort while travelling, enhancing driving safety and giving a satisfactory performance in the presence of different payloads and road grade variations.     

Full drive-by-wire dynamic control for four-wheel-steer all-wheel-drive vehicles

Most of the controllers introduced for four-wheel-steer (4WS) vehicles are derived with the assumption that the longitudinal speed of the vehicle is constant. However, in real applications, the longitudinal speed varies, and the longitudinal, lateral, and yaw dynamics are coupled. In this paper, the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle as well as its lateral and yaw motions are controlled simultaneously. This way, the effect of driving/braking forces of the tires on the lateral and yaw motions of the vehicle are automatically included in the control laws. To address the dynamic parameter uncertainty of the vehicle, a chatter-free variable structure controller is introduced. Elimination of chatter is achieved by introducing a dynamically adaptive boundary layer thickness. It is shown via simulations that the proposed control approach performs more robustly than the controllers developed based on dynamic models, in which longitudinal speed is assumed to be constant, and only lateral speed and yaw rate are used as system states. Furthermore, this approach supports all-wheel-drive vehicles. Front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive vehicles are also supported as special cases of an all-wheel-drive vehicle.     

分布式驱动电动汽车动力学集成控制研究进展及趋势

分布式驱动电动汽车具有四轮可独立控制和响应速度快等突出优势,对增强车辆操纵稳定性、安全性和经济性具有重要的意义。但车辆是一个非线性、强耦合的系统,需研究解决各个控制器相互耦合、过驱动系统复杂性和不确定性等核心问题,这依赖于多维 （纵向、横向和垂向） 集成控制模式和容错控制。对现有研究进行分类和总结,从传统单一维度控制到多维集成控制,综述分布式驱动电动汽车的关键技术和发展现状,重点归纳了汽车动力学集成控制的多层结构及其应用,特别是集成了纵向-横向-垂向动力学的综合控制。最后对分布式驱动电动汽车动力学控制系统所面临的挑战提出了一些建议。