Design of a signal transducer for direct conversion of wheel linear accelerations into tire lateral forces

This paper describes a design of a real-time conversion system of wheel linear accelerations into tire lateral forces. Though the tire lateral forces are important elements for analyzing vehicle dynamic control performances, they cannot be easily measured in real-time owing to the non-linearities of tire dynamics, friction, and slippage on road. In this paper, we propose a practical direct method using wheel linear accelerations in order to estimate tire lateral forces transmitted into the vehicle in real-time. A simplified vehicle model based on force-acceleration analysis is proposed to assure the real-time performance. The acceleration values are obtained using three-axis accelerometers attached on each wheel location. For conditioning and rectifying the acceleration signals, a signal transducer is designed using a digital filter. And in order to investigate the feasibility and real-time performance, a prototype of signal transducer is fabricated using a digital signal processor. The experimental results and performance are validated with the road test results using six-component wheel force transducers.