Design of an Active Unilateral Brake Control System for Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer Based on Sensitivity Analysis

SUMMARY

This paper presents the results of a parametric sensitivity analysis of a five-axle tractor-semitrailer vehicle combination using 3-DOF linear yaw/plane model. The first order logarithmic sensitivity functions are derived with respect to several vehicle design parameters. For stabilization of the vehicle's directional behaviour a fairly new control concept called “Active Unilateral Braking Control (AUBC)” acting on the tractor rear wheel's in order to produce a stabilizing yaw torque is investigated. The AUBC system improves not only the directional stability, but also affects the roll dynamics of the vehicle. The sensitivity of the controlled vehicle system with linear quadratic controller (LQR) is also examined, a robust controller design procedure is proposed as a result of the sensitivity analysis. The robustness of this controller in the presence of both internal (including parametric uncertainties, non-linear dynamics) and external disturbances (such as road irregularities and side wind) allows its implementation with confidence with a non-linear vehicle model. The applicability of this control system to a non-linear vehicle model is tested using a 34 DOF, non-linear vehicle model of the tractor-semitrailer combination.     

基于PSO-SVR近似模型的乘员约束系统稳健性优化

综合运用近似模型参数优化技术和稳健性优化方法对汽车乘员约束系统进行优化。通过全局灵敏度分析,选出对加权伤害准则(weighted injury criterion,WIC)影响大的参数;采用粒子群优化(PSO)算法对支持向量回归(SVR)模型参数和核函数参数进行优化,建立高精度的PSO-SVR近似模型;在确定性优化的基础上进行基于蒙特卡罗抽样的稳健性优化。结果表明:优化后乘员约束系统性能得到明显提升且兼顾了稳健性。     

Application of Sensitivity Methods to Analysis and Synthesis of Vehicle Dynamic Systems

SUMMARY

The development and application of sensitivity methods for determining the effects of parameter changes on the response of vehicle dynamic systems is presented. The procedures shown can be used to enhance the analysis and synthesis processes of virtually any road or rail vehicle system regardless of its complexity. The parametric sensitivity of vehicle models in time domain, steady state models and vehicle models in frequency domain can be investigated using different types of sensitivity functions, both dimensional and dimensionless including first order standard, percentage, logarithmic, second order standard, and logarithmic and percentage sensitivity measures. These sensitivity functions and measures are determined as functions of partial derivatives of system variables taken with respect to system parameters. In the case of sensitivity functions in the frequency domain the variable values are computed as either the magnitude or phase angle of a complex element of the transfer function matrix. The methods presented enable to determine the influence of all system primary (constant) and secondary (non-constant) parameters on system primary and secondary variables. The primary variables are state variables or elements of the transfer function matrix and the secondary variables may be any functions of primary variables and system parameters. Typical secondary system parameters which can be examined include initial conditions, time variant coefficients, natural frequencies, loads, and typical secondary variables are forces, weight transfers, stability factors and energy components. The analysis of sensitivity results obtained for three vehicle handling models in both linear and nonlinear regimes of vehicle performance and utilizing various types of sensitivity functions is also presented.     

Multiobjective optimisation of bogie suspension to boost speed on curves

To improve safety and maximum admissible speed on different operational scenarios, multiobjective optimisation of bogie suspension components of a one-car railway vehicle model is considered. The vehicle model has 50 degrees of freedom and is developed in multibody dynamics software SIMPACK. Track shift force, running stability, and risk of derailment are selected as safety objective functions. The improved maximum admissible speeds of the vehicle on curves are determined based on the track plane accelerations up to 1.5?m/s². To attenuate the number of design parameters for optimisation and improve the computational efficiency, a global sensitivity analysis is accomplished using the multiplicative dimensional reduction method (M-DRM). A multistep optimisation routine based on genetic algorithm (GA) and MATLAB/SIMPACK co-simulation is executed at three levels. The bogie conventional secondary and primary suspension components are chosen as the design parameters in the first two steps, respectively. In the last step semi-active suspension is in focus. The input electrical current to magnetorheological yaw dampers is optimised to guarantee an appropriate safety level. Semi-active controllers are also applied and the respective effects on bogie dynamics are explored. The safety Pareto optimised results are compared with those associated with in-service values. The global sensitivity analysis and multistep approach significantly reduced the number of design parameters and improved the computational efficiency of the optimisation. Furthermore, using the optimised values of design parameters give the possibility to run the vehicle up to 13% faster on curves while a satisfactory safety level is guaranteed. The results obtained can be used in Pareto optimisation and active bogie suspension design problems.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Vehicle Design Attributes in Frequency Domain

This paper presents a procedure for determining the sensitivity matrices of a vehicle dynamic system in the frequency domain as derivatives of the transfer function matrix with respect to system parameters. First and second order logarithmic sensitivity functions which possess normalized coefficients have been introduced to enhance analysis. The sensitivity analysis of amplitude-frequency characteristics on changes of selected parameters of a 3 degree-of-freedom vehicle handling model has been performed. It has been demonstrated that the general sensitivity measure proposed can be used to determine the combined influence of system parameters divided into groups such as design, environmental, driver, kinematic, etc., on the multi-parameter system response, prior to determining their order of influence within the groups.     

A novel method for identifying inertial parameters of electric vehicles based on the dual H infinity filter

ABSTRACT

Accurate identification of vehicle inertial parameters is essential to the design of vehicle dynamics control systems. In this paper, a novel vehicle inertial parameter identification method based on the dual H infinity filter (DHIF) for electric vehicles (EVs) is proposed. The filter algorithm employs a nonlinear longitudinal vehicle model with three vehicle states. A hierarchical framework is engaged by the DHIF to estimate the vehicle states and inertial parameters concurrently. In order to minimise the disturbance of unknown noise, the vehicle states are estimated by using the linear H infinity filter (LHIF), while the nonlinear H infinity filter (NHIF) utilises the observed states to identify the vehicle inertial parameters. Finally, the proposed estimation method is verified and compared through the dSPACE based hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation experiments. The results indicate that the DHIF-based estimation method is effective to identify the vehicle inertial parameters with high precision, remarkable robustness, and quick convergence.     

Transaction of the International Association for Vehicle System Dynamics (IAVSD)

SUMMARY

Automatic steering control algorithm has been proposed, which uses the motion of objects in a visual image (Optical Flow) obtained from an ITV camera looking ahead in the situation without forward vehicles. This algorithm is improved to be applicable to the situation in which the forward tracking course is invisible owing to the interfarence of the forward vehicles. The adjustment of the control parameters against the change in vehicle speed is confirmed by the computer simulation experiments.     

动态模型全局灵敏度分析及其在汽车前桥结构中的应用

汽车结构中不可避免地存在各种不确定性,严重影响汽车的安全使用,灵敏度分析可以明晰不确定性的影响关系,为提高汽车安全性提供有效指导。针对动态模型,在引入模型变化不确定性的基础上,提出动态模型基于方差的全局灵敏度分析,并对方差贡献及灵敏度指标的涵义进行了详细论述,其与Sobol理论保持着较好的一致性,且计算上仅增加了一维反映模型变化不确定性的变量。利用动态模型基于方差的全局灵敏度分析对汽车前桥强度问题进行了分析。     

PHEV发动机驱动工况效率耦合分析与优化控制

单轴并联式混合动力系统（Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle,PHEV）包括电池、驱动电机、发动机、自动变速器等多个关键部件。各部件效率特性存在相互耦合的关系,要实现系统整体效率最优,需要辨明影响系统效率的控制参数,并对系统整体效率最优的控制参数进行优化。以装备无级变速器（Continuously Variable Transmission,CVT）的PHEV为研究对象,首先对系统各关键部件的效率特性进行分析,建立各关键部件效率模型,明确各部件效率与控制参数、状态参数之间的关系。在此基础上,对发动机单独驱动模式下动力传递路径中不同部件的效率耦合关系进行分析,推导出系统燃油消耗量与动力系统各状态参数、控制参数之间的函数关系。根据分析结果,选取车辆需求功率及车速为状态参数,变速器速比及发动机转矩为控制参数,以系统燃油消耗量最小为目标建立优化目标函数和约束条件,对系统优化问题进行定义。根据优化问题的特点,设计基于模拟退火的优化算法对优化问题进行求解,获取系统燃油消耗率最小时变速器目标速比和发动机目标转矩随状态参数的变化关系。建立系统仿真模型对所述优化算法进行仿真分析,并搭建混合动力试验台对优化结果进行试验验证。结果表明：无级变速器效率对系统整体效率影响较大,采用优化控制规律使发动机效率有所降低,但无级变速器效率升高更大,系统整体效率升高;在功率需求一定的循环工况下,优化控制算法比传统上仅以发动机效率最高为目标的控制算法节油1%~2%。     

Vehicle control synthesis using phase portraits of planar dynamics

ABSTRACT

Phase portraits provide control system designers strong graphical insight into nonlinear system dynamics. These plots readily display vehicle stability properties and map equilibrium point locations and movement to changing parameters and system inputs. This paper extends the usage of phase portraits in vehicle dynamics to control synthesis by illustrating the relationship between the boundaries of stable vehicle operation and the state derivative isoclines in the yaw rate–sideslip phase plane. Closed-loop phase portraits demonstrate the potential for augmenting a vehicle's open-loop dynamics through steering and braking. The paper concludes by applying phase portrait analysis to an envelope control algorithm for yaw stability and a sliding surface controller for stabilising a saddle point equilibrium in drifting.     

Ride dynamic evaluations and design optimisation of a torsio-elastic off-road vehicle suspension

The ride dynamic characteristics of a novel torsio-elastic suspension for off-road vehicle applications are investigated through field measurements and simulations. A prototype suspension was realised and integrated within the rear axle of a forestry skidder for field evaluations. Field measurements were performed on forestry terrains at a constant forward speed of 5 km/h under the loaded and unloaded conditions, and the ride responses were acquired in terms of accelerations along the vertical, lateral, roll, longitudinal and pitch axes. The measurements were also performed on a conventional skidder to investigate the relative ride performance potentials of the proposed suspension. The results revealed that the proposed suspension could yield significant reductions in magnitudes of transmitted vibration to the operator seat. Compared with the unsuspended vehicle, the prototype suspended vehicle resulted in nearly 35%, 43% and 57% reductions in the frequency-weighted rms accelerations along the x-, y- and z-axis, respectively. A 13-degree-of-freedom ride dynamic model of the vehicle with rear-axle torsio-elastic suspension was subsequently derived and validated in order to study the sensitivity of the ride responses to suspension parameters. Optimal suspension parameters were identified using the Pareto technique based on the genetic algorithm to obtain minimal un-weighted and frequency-weighted rms acceleration responses. The optimal solutions resulted in further reduction in the pitch acceleration in the order of 20%, while the reductions in roll and vertical accelerations ranged from 3.5 to 6%.     

基于遗传算法和LQG控制的汽车半主动悬架结构和控制参数的集成优化研究

传统半主动悬架的设计是先设计其结构参数后设计其控制器参数，这样易造成系统失去全局最优性能。针对这一问题，本文提出一种基于遗传算法和LQG控制的集成优化半主动悬架结构参数和控制参数的方法，通过理论分析和仿真结果表明此方法与传统优化方法相比，对改善汽车行驶平顺性和提高汽车行驶安全性具有较优的效果。     

Robust hierarchical controller with conditional integrator based on small gain theorem for reference trajectory tracking of autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT

A robust trajectory tracking controller is designed for autonomous vehicles based on a hierarchical architecture to make the autonomous vehicle track a given reference trajectory. The controller consists of two sub controllers: kinematic controller and dynamic controller. Based on the kinematics of tracking reference trajectory, a desired yaw rate is calculated by kinematic controller to make the lateral deviation global asymptotic stable. Then, steering wheel angle is calculated by a vehicle dynamic controller to make the vehicle yaw rate converge to the desired value and make the vehicle dynamic stable. Conditional integration method is used in the sub controllers. This method guarantees global asymptotic stability of tracking reference values and considers the uncertainty of parameters and constraints of desired yaw rate and actuators. Then based on small-gain theorem, the condition of the finite-gain L stability is given to the hierarchical controller to ensure the interconnected sub systems stable and prevent the amplification of system disturbance. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the controller are validated by real vehicle experiments.     

Stationar- und Ubergangsverhalten von Sattel- und Lasttugen bei der Kreisfahrt: Lineare Berechnungen

ABSTRACT

Steady and Transient Turning of Tractor-Semitrailer and Truck-Trailer Combinations: A Linear Analysis

A simplified analysis is made of the yaw stability and control of the two types of the commercial vehicle combinations (tractor-semitrailer, truck-trailer) at a constant forward velocity during steady and transient turning. The combined vehicle is treated as a linear dynamic system (Fig. 2). The steer angle at the front wheels of the tractor (or truck) and the steady-state responses if the road verhicle train (yaw rate, articulation angles and sideslip angle) are calculated (Equations 18 to 25). Exploratory calculations are performed to determine the influence of the cornering stiffness of the tires for the two types of the vehicle combinations upon the steady-state responses (Figs. 7 to 10). For a linear simplified model of articulated vehicle the steady-state turning behaviour is stable also under conditions of rather high driving speed (70 km/h). A simplified analysis of the transient turning behaviour of the two types of road trains has shown the tractor-semitrailer to preserve stability even under driving speeds exceeding 70 km/h (Fig. 13), whereas the truck-trailer combinations appear to become oscillatory unstable if the driving speed rises above the 60 km/h margin (Fig. 14).     

Sensitivity analysis for reducing critical responses at the axle shaft of a lightweight vehicle

Critical responses are frequently detected at the coupled torsional beam axle (CTBA) of a lightweight vehicle. However, the freedom to modify the design of the axle shaft is limited because the suspension system must satisfy other vehicle requirements such as steering performance. Conventional sensitivity analysis cannot provide practical information about the resonant behavior because the analysis only identifies the contribution of the axle shaft to the behavior. This paper presents a novel sensitivity analysis based on transmissibility ratios (TRs). The vehicle components other than the axle shaft that can be modified to control the critical spectra are identified using acceleration responses. A multi-body vehicle model is constructed to simulate the proposed design modifications, and the simulation results show that the vibration of the axle shaft is considerably reduced by the modifications. Because the TRs on the CTBA are effectively minimized through the modified design strategy, the resonant response from the axle shaft can be controlled efficiently.     

车辆移动监控系统并发调度机制的研究

在车辆移动监控系统运行过程中,监控中心将同时接收到从不同车载终端发送过来的大量信息,这些信息分别对应着不同的事件。监控中心如何针对这些事件,及时做出不同的响应和处理是极为重要的。在对监控中心并发处理的性能要求进行分析的基础上,提出了优先数事件队列算法来实现车辆监控中心的并发调度机制,并给出了算法实现。     

A real-time approach to robust identification of tyre–road friction characteristics on mixed-μ roads

ABSTRACT

The interaction between the tyre and the road is crucial for understanding the dynamic behaviour of a vehicle. The road–tyre friction characteristics play a key role in the design of braking, traction and stability control systems. Thus, in order to have a good performance of vehicle dynamic stability control, real-time estimation of the tyre–road friction coefficient is required. This paper presents a new development of an on-line tyre–road friction parameters estimation methodology and its implementation using both LuGre and Burckhardt tyre–road friction models. The proposed method provides the capability to observe the tyre–road friction coefficient directly using measurable signals in real-time. In the first step of our approach, the recursive least squares is employed to identify the linear parameterisation form of the Burckhardt model. The identified parameters provide, through a T–S fuzzy system, the initial values for the LuGre model. Then, a new LuGre model-based nonlinear least squares parameter estimation algorithm using the proposed static form of the LuGre to obtain the parameters of LuGre model based on recursive nonlinear optimisation of the curve fitting errors is presented. The effectiveness and performance of the algorithm are demonstrated through the real-time model simulations with different longitudinal speeds and different kinds of tyres on various road surface conditions in both Matlab/Carsim environments as well as collected data from real experiments on a commercial trailer.     

Numerical Simulation of Vehicle Behavior during Straight Line Keeping on Undulating Road Surfaces

SUMMARY

Numerical design of vehicles having optimal straight line stability on undulating road surfaces requires an accurate vehicle model based on knowledge of the relevant phenomena. Therefore, vehicle behavior on undulating straight roads has been analyzed and modeled. Measurements on a flat road surface have shown that the dedicated vehicle model yields accurate simulation results of the steering response to medium steering wheel angle inputs. In addition, the model has been validated by measuring two vehicle responses during normal driving on an undulating straight road: viz. the responses to the small steering wheel angle input and to the input by the global inclination of the road surface.     

Design of an Active Unilateral Brake Control System for Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer Based on Sensitivity Analysis

This paper presents the results of a parametric sensitivity analysis of a five-axle tractor-semitrailer vehicle combination using 3-DOF linear yaw/plane model. The first order logarithmic sensitivity functions are derived with respect to several vehicle design parameters. For stabilization of the vehicle's directional behaviour a fairly new control concept called “Active Unilateral Braking Control (AUBC)” acting on the tractor rear wheel's in order to produce a stabilizing yaw torque is investigated. The AUBC system improves not only the directional stability, but also affects the roll dynamics of the vehicle. The sensitivity of the controlled vehicle system with linear quadratic controller (LQR) is also examined, a robust controller design procedure is proposed as a result of the sensitivity analysis. The robustness of this controller in the presence of both internal (including parametric uncertainties, non-linear dynamics) and external disturbances (such as road irregularities and side wind) allows its implementation with confidence with a non-linear vehicle model. The applicability of this control system to a non-linear vehicle model is tested using a 34 DOF, non-linear vehicle model of the tractor-semitrailer combination.     

Adaptive Control of Vehicle Suspension

SUMMARY

An adaptive control scheme for a two-degree-of-freedom vehicle model with active suspension is proposed. The performance goal is to minimize the variance of vehicle body acceleration under inequality constraints imposed on the variance of either tire or suspension deflection. An active suspension is adapted to the changes in vehicle velocity and the type of road (or terrain) surface which is assumed to be reconstructable from the accelerometer measurements. The control gain factors are obtained by the iterative method taking advantage of stochastic linear control theory. The performance of the system is evaluated and compared to that of an active system with constant gain factors and a passive system with adjustable parameters.