A novel direct yaw moment controller for in-wheel motor electric vehicles

A novel direct yaw moment controller is developed in this paper. A hierarchical control architecture is adopted in the controller design. In the upper controller, a driver model and a vehicle model are used to obtain the driver's intention and the vehicle states, respectively. The upper controller determines the desired yaw moment by means of sliding mode control. The lower controller distributes differential longitudinal forces according to the desired yaw moment. A nonlinear tyre model, ‘UniTire’, is utilised to develop the novel distribution strategy and the control boundary.     

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.     

Torque control allocation based on constrained optimization with regenerative braking for electric vehicles

This paper proposes a constrained optimization-based torque control allocation method aimed to improve energy efficiency, and thus, driving range for electric vehicles. In the proposed method, the cost function is defined not only to achieve desired yaw moment for vehicle handling and stability, but also to minimize power losses for energy efficiency. The particular attention is paid to the power losses due to tire slips both longitudinally and laterally. The constraints are also set based on thorough investigation on various causes of power disppation such that the torque is allocated with restraint to use regenerative braking in its maximum capacity. The proposed control allocation method has been tested and verified to be effective on energy efficiency improvement through both simulation and experiment under various driving maneuvers.     

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.     

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.     

Integrated Control of Active Rear Wheel Steering and Direct Yaw Moment Control

SUMMARY

An integrated control system of active rear wheel steering (4WS) and direct yaw moment control (DYC) is presented in this paper. Because of the tire nonlinearity that is mainly due to the saturation of cornering forces, vehicle handling performance is improved but limited to a certain extent only by steering control. Direct yaw moment control using braking and/or driving forces is effective not only in linear but also nonlinear ranges of tire friction circle. The proposed control system is a model matching controller which makes the vehicle follow the desired dynamic model by the state feedback of both yaw rate and side slip angle. Various computer simulations are carried out and show that vehicle handling performance is much improved by the integrated control system.     

A novel integrated chassis controller for full drive-by-wire vehicles

In this paper, a systematic design with multiple hierarchical layers is adopted in the integrated chassis controller for full drive-by-wire vehicles. A reference model and the optimal preview acceleration driver model are utilised in the driver control layer to describe and realise the driver's anticipation of the vehicle's handling characteristics, respectively. Both the sliding mode control and terminal sliding mode control techniques are employed in the vehicle motion control (MC) layer to determine the MC efforts such that better tracking performance can be attained. In the tyre force allocation layer, a polygonal simplification method is proposed to deal with the constraints of the tyre adhesive limits efficiently and effectively, whereby the load transfer due to both roll and pitch is also taken into account which directly affects the constraints. By calculating the motor torque and steering angle of each wheel in the executive layer, the total workload of four wheels is minimised during normal driving, whereas the MC efforts are maximised in extreme handling conditions. The proposed controller is validated through simulation to improve vehicle stability and handling performance in both open- and closed-loop manoeuvres.     

Integrated Control of Active Rear Wheel Steering and Direct Yaw Moment Control

An integrated control system of active rear wheel steering (4WS) and direct yaw moment control (DYC) is presented in this paper. Because of the tire nonlinearity that is mainly due to the saturation of cornering forces, vehicle handling performance is improved but limited to a certain extent only by steering control. Direct yaw moment control using braking and/or driving forces is effective not only in linear but also nonlinear ranges of tire friction circle. The proposed control system is a model matching controller which makes the vehicle follow the desired dynamic model by the state feedback of both yaw rate and side slip angle. Various computer simulations are carried out and show that vehicle handling performance is much improved by the integrated control system.     

Hierarchical Direct Yaw-Moment Control System Design for In-Wheel Motor Driven Electric Vehicle

In this study, a hierarchical structured direct yaw-moment control (DYC) system, which consists of a main-loop controller and a servo-loop controller, is designed to enhance the handling and stability of an in-wheel motor driven driven electric vehicle (IEV). In the main loop, a Fractional Order PID (FO-PID) controller is proposed to generate desired external yaw moment. A modified Differential Evolution (M-DE) algorithm is adopted to optimize the controller parameters. In the servo-loop controller, the desired external yaw moment is optimally distributed to individual wheel torques by using sequential quadratic programming (SQP) approach, with the tire force boundaries estimated by Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) based on a fitted empirical tire model. The IEV prototype is virtually modelled by using Adams/Car collaborating with SolidWorks, validated by track tests, and serves as the control plant for simulation. The feasibility and effectiveness of the designed control system are examined by simulations in typical handling maneuver scenarios.     

Multi-axle vehicle dynamics stability control algorithm with all independent drive wheel

The stability driving characteristic and the tire wear of 8-axle vehicle with 16-independent driving wheels are discussed in this paper. The lateral stability of 8-axle vehicle can be improved by the direct yaw moment which is generated by the 16 independent driving wheels. The hierarchical controller is designed to determine the required yaw torque and driving force of each wheel. The upper level controller uses feed-forward and feed-backward control theory to obtain the required yaw torque. The fuzzification weight ratio of two control objective is built in the upper level controller to regulate the vehicle yaw and lateral motions. The rule-based yaw moment distribution strategy and the driving force adjustment based on the safety of vehicle are proposed in the lower level controller. The influence of rear steering angle is considered in the distribution of driving force of the wheel. Simulation results of a vehicle double lane change show the stability of 8-axle vehicle under the proposed control algorithm. The wear rate of tire is calculated by the interaction force between the tire and ground. The wear of tire is different from each other for the vehicle with the stability controller or not.     

独立轮电驱动车辆主动操纵稳定控制研究

提出了采用变增益参考模型的滑模跟踪控制策略,以横摆角速度和侧滑速度为控制对象,独立控制左右轮驱动力产生直接横摆力矩,提高了车辆在极限工况下的操纵稳定性,并改善了车辆固有的转向特性。改进的滑模控制算法减小了系统抖振并具有较强的鲁棒性。     

An adaptive integrated algorithm for active front steering and direct yaw moment control based on direct Lyapunov method

In this article, an adaptive integrated control algorithm based on active front steering and direct yaw moment control using direct Lyapunov method is proposed. Variation of cornering stiffness is considered through adaptation laws in the algorithm to ensure robustness of the integrated controller. A simple two degrees of freedom (DOF) vehicle model is used to develop the control algorithm. To evaluate the control algorithm developed here, a nonlinear eight-DOF vehicle model along with a combined-slip tyre model and a single-point preview driver model are used. Control commands are executed through correction steering angle on front wheels and braking torque applied on one of the four wheels. Simulation of a double lane change manoeuvre using Matlab^®/Simulink is used for evaluation of the control algorithm. Simulation results show that the integrated control algorithm can significantly enhance vehicle stability during emergency evasive manoeuvres on various road conditions ranging from dry asphalt to very slippery packed snow road surfaces.     

Models and methodology for optimal trajectory generation in safety-critical road–vehicle manoeuvres

There is currently a strongly growing interest in obtaining optimal control solutions for vehicle manoeuvres, both in order to understand optimal vehicle behaviour and, perhaps more importantly, to devise improved safety systems, either by direct deployment of the solutions or by including mimicked driving techniques of professional drivers. However, it is non-trivial to find the right combination of models, optimisation criteria, and optimisation tools to get useful results for the above purposes. Here, a platform for investigation of these aspects is developed based on a state-of-the-art optimisation tool together with adoption of existing vehicle chassis and tyre models. A minimum-time optimisation criterion is chosen for the purpose of gaining an insight into at-the-limit manoeuvres, with the overall aim of finding improved fundamental principles for future active safety systems. The proposed method to trajectory generation is evaluated in time-manoeuvres using vehicle models established in the literature. We determine the optimal control solutions for three manoeuvres using tyre and chassis models of different complexities. The results are extensively analysed and discussed. Our main conclusion is that the tyre model has a fundamental influence on the resulting control inputs. Also, for some combinations of chassis and tyre models, inherently different behaviour is obtained. However, certain variables important in vehicle safety-systems, such as the yaw moment and the body-slip angle, are similar for several of the considered model configurations in aggressive manoeuvring situations.     

基于MPC的分布式驱动越野车辆原地转向控制研究

针对轮毂电机分布式驱动越野车辆在狭小空间快速机动的需求,设计了一种分层结构的原地转向控制策略。基于动力学原理分析了各轮载荷、附着条件对原地转向横摆速度的影响机理,并搭建原地转向运动学模型,上层采用模型预测控制算法设计原地转向理想轨迹以及期望的横摆角速度,开发基于PI滑模控制的横摆运动跟踪算法,通过补偿转向横摆力矩以提高方向角控制的鲁棒性和稳定性,下层以最优轮胎利用率为目标,设计二次规划算法优化分配各轮附加横摆力矩。dSPACE硬件在环测试结果表明,所提出的控制算法可在保证稳定性的前提下实现原地转向,大幅提高了车辆的转向机动性,在方向盘动态输入仿真中,车辆最大转弯半径为0.157 m,转向中心的最大偏移量为3.610 m;同时,驾驶员能对转向过程进行闭环控制,实现了原地转向过程中横摆速度的实时调节。     

Sliding mode-based lateral vehicle dynamics control using tyre force measurements

In this work, a lateral vehicle dynamics control based on tyre force measurements is proposed. Most of the lateral vehicle dynamics control schemes are based on yaw rate whereas tyre forces are the most important variables in vehicle dynamics as tyres are the only contact points between the vehicle and road. In the proposed method, active front steering is employed to uniformly distribute the required lateral force among the front left and right tyres. The force distribution is quantified through the tyre utilisation coefficients. In order to address the nonlinearities and uncertainties of the vehicle model, a gain scheduling sliding-mode control technique is used. In addition to stabilising the lateral dynamics, the proposed controller is able to maintain maximum lateral acceleration. The proposed method is tested and validated on a multi-body vehicle simulator.     

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.     

Energy analysis of the Von Schlippe tyre model with application to shimmy

Shimmy is an engineering example of self-excited vibrations. Much research on shimmy has considered the tyre as a positive feedback or negative damping to introduce instability of the entire system. In this context, we focus on the behaviour of the tyre under periodic excitations. The Von Schlippe tyre model is selected and the energy flow method is applied to illustrate the energy transfer by the tyre during shimmy. The energy flow method evaluates the tyre performance with a prescribed sinusoidal motion and provides a novel evaluation method for tyre models. With the help of straight contact line assumption in the Von Schlippe tyre model, the relative motion between the contact line and the wheel centre is studied to understand the path dependency of the energy transfer. It turns out that the tyre is extracting energy from the forward motion to induce unstable lateral and yaw vibrations when the motion or orientation of the contact line has a phase lead with respect to the wheel centre.     

Vehicle dynamics control of an electric-all-wheel-drive hybrid electric vehicle using tyre force optimisation and allocation

ABSTRACT

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) offer improved fuel efficiency compared to conventional vehicles at the expense of adding complexity and at times, reduced total power. As a result, HEV generally lack the dynamic performance that customers enjoy. To address this issue, the paper presents a HEV with electric All-Wheel-Drive capabilities via the use of torque vectoring electric rear axle drive (TVeRAD) to power the rear axle. The addition of TVeRAD to a front wheel drive HEV improves the total power output. To improve the handling characteristics of the vehicle, the TVeRAD provides torque vectoring at the rear axle. A bond graph model of the drivetrain is developed and used in co-simulation with CarSim. The paper proposes a control system which utilises control allocation to optimise tyre forces. The proposed control system is tested in the simulation environment with a high fidelity CarSim vehicle model. Simulation results show the control system is able to maximise vehicle longitudinal performance while avoiding tyre saturation on low mu surfaces. More importantly, the control system is able to track the desired yaw moment request on a high speed double lane change manoeuvre through the use of the TVeRAD to improve the handling characteristic of the vehicle.     

Application of Aerodynamic Actuators to Improve Vehicle Handling

This exploratory study considers applications of active aerodynamic devices for suppressing parasitic motion and for improving the response of vehicles to steering, within the scope of the linear dynamic behaviour. A three DOF linear model is chosen to describe the side slip, yaw and roll motion of a baseline front-wheel steered vehicle. The improvements in performance of the base-line vehicle that are achievable by the application of direct yaw and roll moments are determined when either an open loop control pre-filter or a state feedback control law based on LQR design is applied. Unlike the former control, the state feedback control is unable to make the body side-slip angle vanish. The feedback control performance of each of the two moment actuators has been examined separately and then jointly. The advantages of combining the open loop and feedback dual actuator configurations are demonstrated using the two-degree of freedom control scheme. It is found that the scheme yields a spectacular performance but demands unreasonably large moments from the actuators in the context of available aerodynamic forces. On the other hand, the demand on direct yaw and roll moment of actuators is modest when the actuators are controlled using the LQR feedback only and if the control design is used to track a desired yaw rate trajectory and simultaneously to reduce the parasitic rolling motion. Significant improvements in handling and dynamic stability of a base-line vehicle can be achieved by aerodynamically generated direct yaw and roll actuator moments provided the target control performance is reasonable. The configurations of aerodynamic actuators considered are feasible for improving vehicle handling in cornering on motorways but more work remains to be done to explore alternative aerodynamic configurations that give rise to less side effects and higher lift coefficients.