Co-operative control for regenerative braking and friction braking to increase energy recovery without wheel lock

This paper presents a regenerative braking co-operative control algorithm to increase energy recovery without wheel lock. Considering the magnitude of the braking force available between the tire and road surface, the control algorithm was designed for the regenerative braking force at the front wheel and friction braking force at the rear wheel to be increased following the friction coefficient line. The performance of the proposed regenerative braking co-operative control algorithm was evaluated by the hardware in the loop simulation (HILS) with an electronic wedge brake on its front wheels and an electronic mechanical brake on its rear wheels. The HILS results showed that a proper braking force on the front and rear wheels on a low μ road prevented the lock of the front wheels that was connected to the motor, and maintained the regenerative braking and increased energy recovery.     

Links between subjective assessments and objective metrics for steering

The characteristics of steering perception are decisive factors for overall driver preference and for vehicle safety. Car manufacturers are continuously required to tune the characteristics of the vehicle and have a strong need to be more effective in the design and evaluation of cars. Using only objective metrics (OM) can result in unwanted steering feel and using only subjective assessments (SA) is time-consuming, costly and non-repetitive. Before a tool can be built to predict the steering feel in front-end development and to improve design knowledge from the full vehicle level to the component level, links between subjective assessments and objective metrics must be found and analysed. The data collected for the study presented in this paper include subjective ratings from expert drivers and objective measurements made with steering robots, involving twelve expert drivers and over twenty vehicles across four different vehicle classes. Linear regression and neural network analysis (NN) have been used to explore reliable subjective-objective links. The tools and methods used in this research showed promising results. Most of the links found concern response and torque feedback. The preferred ranges of some crucial objective metrics leading to more desirable steering feel have been defined and presented. The results indicate that it would be possible for car manufacturers to develop new vehicles more effectively with a steering feel in line with the design criteria by using the tools and methods investigated in this paper.     

Cooperative regenerative braking control for front-wheel-drive hybrid electric vehicle based on adaptive regenerative brake torque optimization using under-steer index

In this study, cooperative regenerative braking control of front-wheel-drive hybrid electric vehicle is proposed to recover optimal braking energy while guaranteeing the vehicle lateral stability. In front-wheel-drive hybrid electric vehicle, excessive regenerative braking for recuperation of the maximum braking energy can cause under-steer problem. This is due to the fact that the resultant lateral force on front tire saturates and starts to decrease. Therefore, cost function with constraints is newly defined to determine optimum distribution of brake torques including the regenerative brake torque for improving the braking energy recovery as well as the vehicle lateral stability. This cost function includes trade-off relation of two objectives. The physical meaning of first objective of cost function is to maximize the regenerative brake torque for improving the fuel economy and that of second objective is to increase the mechanical-friction brake torques at rear wheels rather than regenerative brake torque at front wheels for preventing front tire saturation. And weighting factor in cost function is also proposed as a function of under-steer index representing current state of the vehicle lateral motion in order to generalize the constrained optimization problem including both normal and severe cornering situation. For example, as the vehicle approaches its handling limits, adaptation of weighting factor is possible to prioritize front tire saturation over increasing the recuperation of braking energy for driver safety and vehicle lateral stability. Finally, computer simulation of closed loop driver-vehicle system based on Carsim? performed to verify the effectiveness of adaptation method in proposed controller and the vehicle performance of the proposed controller in comparison with the conventional controller for only considering the vehicle lateral stability. Simulation results indicate that the proposed controller improved the performance of braking energy recovery as well as guaranteed the vehicle lateral stability similar to the conventional controller.     

Automatic parking of vehicles: A review of literatures

Collision accidents often occur during parking or reversing cars. In allusion to this point, this paper conducts a review of literatures on automatic parking. To begin with, a brief introduction of automatic parking including its background and significance is given. Then its commercial application, research status and latest progress are summarized which include visual perception, ultrasonic sensors and radar technology, path planning, control algorithms based on fuzzy theory, neural network, image processing and recognition technology, and digital signal processing technology, etc. On further analysis, some reasonable conclusions are drawn and the future work is suggested.     

Method for precise controlling of the at shift control system

The shift comfort and efficiency of Automatic Transmission in vehicle are highly influenced by the pressure of the clutch shift control system, especially by the electro-hydraulic clutch subsystem. In this paper, the new design principles of electro-hydraulic clutch systems developed and modeled in detail, the clutch-to-clutch control system is analyzed in three time intervals: oil filled phase, changing phase of clutch torque and synchronous phase of clutch speed. The demand pressures for the engaged clutches calculated in each phase and is precisely built up by using fuzzy slide mode control, the time of hydraulic pressure building-up is very sensitive to the dither current in simulation. All control parameters are optimized by Cosimulation between software Simulink and SimulationX. Finally, the optimal algorithm of the clutch shift control is written into the transmission control unit of a testing vehicle. The testing results show that the suggested control strategy is effective.     

Design of automotive headlamp with high-power LEDS

A novel vehicle headlamp low beam system is presented. The optical system is composed of three identical cells to ensure enough illumination. A poly-ellipsoid reflector and a aspherical lens are used to concentrate the rays and a baffle is employed to produce the cut-off line. The optical performance shows a good agreement with the requirement for headlamp in Chinese national standard. The smart constant current driver sustains automotive headlamps?requirements, moreover it has high power efficiency. The performance of three kinds of cooling systems with different structures are simulated and evaluated by FloTHERM software. Then a loop heat pipes combined with fins cooling system is manufactured for cooling the designed LED headlamp. It can greatly improve the cooling efficiency. Even in the 80°C environmental temperature, it can meet the working requirements of LED headlamp low beam system, so it is a kind of feasible cooling scheme.     

Empirical analysis on the effect of design variables of automotive seat lumbar support on the initial sitting discomfort

An empirical analysis was performed in order to examine whether the height of the lumbar support installed on the driver’s seat in a vehicle makes a difference to the initial discomfort when sitting, and among the design variables of the seat lumbar support, which one is the main variable that affects the initial discomfort most when sitting. The subjects who participated in this study were 50^th percentile male in their 30s and 40s from Korea and America, had driving experience, and had not experienced any back pain in the last 12 months. In order to figure out the level of discomfort felt by a driver depending on the movement or the shapes of the lumbar support, subjective sensibility evaluation was conducted and sitting body pressure was measured, and the change of lumbar spine angle was observed using X-ray image. Based on the results, design variables that affect the initial discomfort when sitting on a car seat and the correlation among these design variables were verified through statistical significance testing. The empirical analysis suggested that, among design variables of car seat lumbar support, the degree of prominence is the main variable that affects the initial discomfort when sitting for both Koreans and Americans, while the height and support width have very little to do with it.     

Development of active front wheel steering control system keeping stable region in driving phase diagram

This paper presents a new active steering control system based on driving phase diagram (β _fr ?δ _f diagram). In order to make state variables to follow those of nominal vehicle model that was developed under no consideration of disturbance, Quadratic Programming Problem (QPP) is formulated, where time varying objective function minimizes the differences between nominal and actual parameters. The steering characteristic in active steering control system changes when the vehicle faces disturbance such as crosswind and flat tire, and driver tries to counteract it after recognizing the change. The proposed method defines a stability region on β _fr ?δ _f diagram. In order to make β _fr and δ _f remain in the stability region, a new model predictive controller is proposed. While conventional controllers are restrictive to satisfy the β _fr ?δ _f diagram based stability condition, the proposed controller ensures solution space and also plays a direct role to minimize the evaluation function in the constrained optimal control problem.     

New tyre-road contact model for applications at low speed

Most of the tyre models have been developed for high speed, combined forces, etc., however, in certain tests it is necessary to know tyre behaviour at very low speed in order to evaluate different systems. So, during vehicle inspection and maintenance of the steering and brake system, by means of sideslip tester and roller brake tester respectively, the forces transmitted by the tyres are measured; all of these inspections are carried out at low speeds. Furthermore, usually, automobile vehicles run at low speeds during an important part of their operating life (less than 60 km/h), mainly during urban traffic, and in steady state conditions. Therefore, it is particularly interesting to develop an accurate model of the contact patch tyrepavement for low speeds without the complexity of models that cover a wide speed range but provide less precision at very low speeds. The dynamometer plate has proved to be an appropriate test equipment to characterise the tyre-pavement contact at low speed and the steering geometry and wheel alignment. It has the feature of being able to carry out tests with the tyre installed in the vehicle as in completely real conditions. The main aim of this research is to set up a contact model between tyre and pavement at very low speed based on the measurement of longitudinal and lateral forces. A test methodology that allows carrying out the experimental tests in a systematic and controlled way with the dynamometer plate has also been developed. From this model it will be possible to estimate the forces that tyres are capable of transmitting in different situations to act in the parameters which affect these forces and maximize them.     

Contrast of partial coefficient design method and design method based on reliability indexEI北大核心

Research purposes: By contrast of concept, process, and examples of the partial coefficient design method and the design method based on reliability index, this paper has revealed the essence of the two kinds of design methods, namely for the design method based on reliability index, the concept of probability is directly introduced into design and for the design method of partial coefficient, the probability thought is reflected in the middle of the design, and has analyzed their common and obvious differences, which will provide the guidance for engineering design and research personnel to reasonably choose design method according to the actual situation. Research conclusions: (1) The partial coefficient design method, relatively simple, safe, suitable for conventional design, is a practical design method. (2) Reliable indicator design method, which can give attention to both safety and economy, the design process is complex, suitable for special design, is the ideal design way and the method of scientific research. (3) For the retaining structure engineering design, the partial coefficient method can be adopted. (4) The research conclusion has guiding significance for engineering design and research personnel to choose the retaining structure design method.