State Estimation and Control of Active Systems for High Performance Vehicles

In recent days, mechatronic systems are getting integrated in vehicles ever more. While stability and safety systems such as ABS, ESP have pioneered the introduction of such systems in the modern day car, the lowered cost and increased computational power of electronics along with electrification of the various components has fuelled an increase in this trend. The availability of chassis control systems onboard vehicles has been widely studied and exploited for augmenting vehicle stability. At the same time, for the context of high performance and luxury vehicles, chassis control systems offer a vast and untapped potential to improve vehicle handling and the driveability experience. As performance objectives have not been studied very well in the literature, this thesis deals with the problem of control system design for various active chassis control systems with performance as the main objective. A precursor to the control system design is having complete knowledge of the vehicle states, including those such as the vehicle sideslip angle and the vehicle mass, that cannot be measured directly. The first half of the thesis is dedicated to the development of algorithms for the estimation of these variables in a robust manner. While several estimation methods do exist in the literature, there is still some scope of research in terms of the development of estimation algorithms that have been validated on a test track with extensive experimental testing without using research grade sensors. The advantage of the presented algorithms is that they work only with CAN-BUS data coming from the standard vehicle ESP sensor cluster. The algorithms are tested rigorously under all possible conditions to guarantee robustness. The second half of the thesis deals with the design of the control objectives and controllers for the control of an active rear wheel steering system for a high performance supercar and a torque vectoring algorithm for an electric racing vehicle. With the use of an active rear wheel steering, the driver’s confidence in the vehicle improves due a reduction in the lag between the lateral acceleration and the yaw rate, which allows drivers to push the vehicle harder on a racetrack without losing confidence in it. The torque vectoring algorithm controls the motor torques to improve the tire utilisation and increases the net lateral force, which allows professional drivers to set faster lap times

Advantages of Neural Network Based Air Data Estimation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Redundancy requirements for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are hardly faced due to the generally restricted amount of available space and allowable weight for the aircraft systems, limiting their exploitation. Essential equipment as the Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (ADAHRS) require several external probes to measure significant data as the Angle of Attack or the Sideslip Angle. Previous research focused on the analysis of a patented technology named Smart-ADAHRS (Smart Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference System) as an alternative method to obtain reliable and accurate estimates of the aerodynamic angles. This solution is based on an innovative sensor fusion algorithm implementing soft computing techniques and it allows to obtain a simplified inertial and air data system reducing external devices. In fact, only one external source of dynamic and static pressures is needed. This paper focuses on the benefits which would be gained by the implementation of this system in UAV applications. A simplification of the entire ADAHRS architecture will bring to reduce the overall cost together with improved safety performance. Smart-ADAHRS has currently reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. Real flight tests took place on ultralight aircraft equipped with a suitable Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The output of the algorithm using the flight test measurements demonstrates the capability for this fusion algorithm to embed in a single device multiple physical and virtual sensors. Any source of dynamic and static pressure can be integrated with this system gaining a significant improvement in terms of versatility

Fault Detection and Fail-Safe Operation with a Multiple-Redundancy Air-Data System

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83640/1/AIAA-2010-7855-622.pd

극한 주행 핸들링 성능 개선을 위한 토크벡터링 제어 알고리즘

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 기계공학부, 2023. 2. 이경수.This dissertation comprehensively details the design of a torque vectoring control algorithm for enhanced cornering performance using two front in-wheel motors (IWMs) and electronic limited slip differential (eLSD) at the rear axle. The main scopes to be covered in this dissertation can be divided into two categories: 1) individual control of IWM for torque vectoring control at the front axle; 2) integrated control of IWM and eLSD for both front and rear axle. First, an individual control strategy of two front IWMs in a rear-wheel-drive vehicle has been designed to improve the cornering performance. The individual control of IWMs consists of steady-state and transient control input. The steady-state control input is devised to improve the steady-state cornering response with modifying the vehicle understeer gradient, and the transient control input is designed to enhance the lateral stability by increasing the yaw rate damping coefficient. The proposed algorithm has been investigated through both computer simulations and vehicle tests, in order to show that the proposed algorithm can enhance the cornering response achieving the control objectives and to show the superior control performance compared to the other cases, such as yaw rate tracking algorithm and uncontrolled case. Second, the integrated control of two front IWMs and eLSD is designed to enhance the cornering performance at high speeds considering the characteristics of each actuator. The two front IWMs are controlled to improve the cornering performance based on a feedforward control, and the eLSD is utilized for the yaw rate feedback control. The computer simulations are conducted to show the effects of each actuator on the vehicle lateral motion at aggressive cornering with longitudinal acceleration and deceleration. Additionally, vehicle test results show that the proposed controller improves the cornering performance at the limits of handling compared to the uncontrolled case. In summary, this dissertation proposes a control algorithm for an enhanced limit handling performance based on vehicle understeer gradient and yaw rate damping characteristics, addressing also integrated control of in-wheel motors and electronic limited slip differential with considering the characteristics of each actuator. The proposed IWM control law is formulated to shape the understeer characteristics during steady-state cornering and yaw rate damping characteristic during transient cornering, and the eLSD control is designed to track the reference yaw rate. Computer simulations and vehicle tests are conducted to validate the control performance of the proposed algorithm, showing significant improvements in the agility and the stability of a test vehicle without chattering issues. Additionally, the vehicle tests at a racing track confirm the enhanced limit handling performance.본 논문은 전륜 인휠모터와 후륜 전자식 차동 제한 장치를 이용하여 선회 성능 개선을 위한 토크벡터링 제어 알고리즘에 대해 포괄적으로 설명하였다. 본 논문에서 다루는 주요 연구 범위는 크게 두 가지 범주로 나뉠 수 있다. 첫 번째는 전륜 인휠모터를 이용한 개별적인 토크벡터링 제어이고, 두 번째는 전륜 인휠모터 및 후륜 전자식 차동제한장치를 모두 이용한 전후륜 통합 토크벡터링 제어이다. 첫 번째로, 후륜 구동 차량 내에서 두 개의 전륜 인휠 모터를 활용한 선회 성능 개선을 위한 제어 알고리즘이 설계되었다. 인휠 모터 독립 제어는 정상상태 제어 입력과 과도응답 상태 제어 입력으로 구성되어 있다. 정상상태 제어 입력은 차량의 언더스티어 구배를 변형하면서 정상상태 선회 반응을 개선하기 위해 고안되었고, 과도응답 상태 제어 입력은 차량의 요댐핑 계수를 증가시킴으로써 차량의 횡방향 안정성을 개선하기 위해 설계되었다. 제안된 알고리즘의 성능은 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션과 차량 실험을 통해 확인하였다. 실험 결과에서 알 수 있듯이, 제안된 알고리즘은 제어 목표를 달성하며 차량의 선회 성능을 개선할 수 있었다. 두 번째로, 각 엑츄에이터의 특성을 고려하고 고속 주행 상황에서의 선회 성능을 개선하기 위해, 두 개의 전륜 인휠 모터와 후륜의 전자식 차동 제한 장치의 통합 제어 알고리즘이 설계되었다. 두 개의 전륜 인휠 모터는 피드포워드 제어를 기반으로 선회 성능을 개선하기 위해 제어되었고, 후륜의 전자식 차동 제한 장치는 요레이트 피드백 제어를 위해 활용되었다. 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션은 감가속을 포함한 공격적인 선회 상황에서 각 엑츄에이터의 제어 효과를 보여주기 위해 수행되었다. 추가적으로, 차량 실험 결과를 통해 제안된 제어기가 제어되지 않은 경우에 비해 핸들링 한계 상황에서의 선회 성능을 개선할 수 있다는 점을 보여주었다. 요약하자면, 본 연구에서는 차량의 언더스티어 그레디언트와 요레이트 댐핑 특성에 기반한 한계 핸들링 성능 개선을 위한 제어 알고리즘을 제안하였다. 또한, 인휠모터와 전자식 차동 제한 장치의 각 엑츄에이터 특성을 고려하여 인휠모터와 전자식 차동 제한 장치의 통합 제어에 대해 다루었다. 제안된 인휠모터 제어기는 정상상태 선회에서의 언더스티어 그레디언트와 과도응답상태 선회에서의 요레이트 댐핑 특성을 변형하기 위해 고안되었고, 전자식 차동 제한 장치 제어는 목표 요레이트를 추종하기 위해 설계되었다. 제안된 제어기를 검증하기 위해, 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션과 실차 실험이 진행되었고, 차량의 선회 안정성과 민첩성이 채터링 문제없이 확연히 개선된다는 것을 보여주었다. 추가적으로, 레이싱 트랙에서의 실차 실험을 통해 개선된 한계 핸들링 성능 또한 제시되었다.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Background and motivation 1 1.2. Previous research on considering tire characteristics 4 1.2. Previous research on vehicle controller design 8 1.3. Thesis objectives 13 1.4. Thesis outline 15 Chapter 2. Vehicle Control System 17 2.1. Vehicle chassis system 17 2.2. Vehicle tire-road interactions 22 2.3. Tire characteristics at the limits of handling 35 Chapter 3. Torque Vectoring Control with In-Wheel Motors (IWMs) 49 3.1. Upper level controller 53 3.1.1. Control strategies for steady-state response 54 3.1.2. Control strategies for transient response 57 3.1.3. Analysis on the closed-loop system with proposed controller 60 3.2. Lower level controller 65 3.2.1. Actuator characteristics of in-wheel motors 65 3.2.2. Torque inputs for yaw moment generation 66 Chapter 4. Integrated Control of Two Front In-Wheel Motors (IWMs) and Rear-Axle Electronic Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) 68 4.1. Upper level controller 71 4.1.1. Analysis on actuator characteristics and vehicle responses 71 4.1.2. Feedforward control using in-wheel motors 79 4.1.3. Feedback control using electronic limited slip differential 80 4.2. Lower level controller 82 4.2.1. Transforming the desired yaw moments to the torque command 82 4.2.2. Saturating the torque inputs considering the actuator and tire friction limit 83 4.2.3. Transferring the eLSD clutch torque in the desired direction 84 Chapter 5. Simulation Results 87 5.1. Effect of IWM control on vehicle motion 87 5.2. Effect of IWM/eLSD integrated control 98 Chapter 6. Vehicle Test Results 108 6.1. Test results for IWM control 108 6.2. Test results for integrated control of IWM and eLSD 116 Chapter 7. Conclusion 121 Appendix A. Integrated control of two front in-wheel motors and rear wheel steering 123 A.1. Prediction model for vehicle motion 124 A.2. Controller design 128 A.3. Simulation results 131 Bibliography 138 Abstract in Korean 148박

Avionics systems development for small unmanned aircraft

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-104).by Vladislav Gavrilets.M.S

Actuators for Intelligent Electric Vehicles

This book details the advanced actuators for IEVs and the control algorithm design. In the actuator design, the configuration four-wheel independent drive/steering electric vehicles is reviewed. An in-wheel two-speed AMT with selectable one-way clutch is designed for IEV. Considering uncertainties, the optimization design for the planetary gear train of IEV is conducted. An electric power steering system is designed for IEV. In addition, advanced control algorithms are proposed in favour of active safety improvement. A supervision mechanism is applied to the segment drift control of autonomous driving. Double super-resolution network is used to design the intelligent driving algorithm. Torque distribution control technology and four-wheel steering technology are utilized for path tracking and adaptive cruise control. To advance the control accuracy, advanced estimation algorithms are studied in this book. The tyre-road peak friction coefficient under full slip rate range is identified based on the normalized tyre model. The pressure of the electro-hydraulic brake system is estimated based on signal fusion. Besides, a multi-semantic driver behaviour recognition model of autonomous vehicles is designed using confidence fusion mechanism. Moreover, a mono-vision based lateral localization system of low-cost autonomous vehicles is proposed with deep learning curb detection. To sum up, the discussed advanced actuators, control and estimation algorithms are beneficial to the active safety improvement of IEVs

Low-Cost Wearable Head-Up Display for Flight General Aviation

A low-cost wearable Commercial-off-The-Shelf (COTS) Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Up Display (HUD) system is designed, successfully reduced to practice, and flight tested. The system is developed based on the need for a technology that improves loss-of-control (LOC) safety in the General Aviation (GA) sector. The accuracy of the flight-path based system is determined to be within a degree of the truth source. The repeatability of the data from the COTS system is excellent. A complementary filter is proposed for air data flow angles and successfully flight tested for straight and level flight, dynamic maneuvering, and atmospheric turbulence, provided that a reasonably accurate lift curve is determined. A novel accelerometer method is proposed for estimating the relative pitch attitude estimation of the pilot’s head. The method is evaluated on the ground and in flight, and is shown to be superior to other commercially available solutions. The HUD system is shown, through various test points, to make flying more intuitive and efficient, thereby affecting the GA LOC. In all the performed tasks, experienced and inexperienced pilots are used to fly the aircraft and evaluate the technology

Intelligent traction motor control techniques for hybrid and electric vehicles

This thesis presents the research undertaken by the author within the field of intelligent traction motor control for Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Electric Vehicle (EV) applications. A robust Fuzzy Logic (FL) based traction motor field-orientated control scheme is developed which can control multiple motor topologies and HEV/EV powertrain architectures without the need for re-tuning. This control scheme can aid in the development of an HEV/EV and for continuous control of the traction motor/s in the final production vehicle. An overcurrent-tolerant traction motor sizing strategy is developed to gauge if a prospective motor’s torque and thermal characteristics can fulfil a vehicle’s target dynamic and electrical objectives during the early development stages of an HEV/EV. An industrial case study is presented. An on-line reduced switching multilevel inverter control scheme is investigated which increases the inverter’s efficiency while maintaining acceptable levels of output waveform harmonic distortion. A FL based vehicle stability control system is developed that improves the controllability and stability of an HEV/EV during an emergency braking manoeuvre. This system requires minimal vehicle parameters to be used within the control system, is insensitive to variable vehicle parameters and can be tuned to meet a vehicle’s target dynamic objectives

Advances in Robotics, Automation and Control

The book presents an excellent overview of the recent developments in the different areas of Robotics, Automation and Control. Through its 24 chapters, this book presents topics related to control and robot design; it also introduces new mathematical tools and techniques devoted to improve the system modeling and control. An important point is the use of rational agents and heuristic techniques to cope with the computational complexity required for controlling complex systems. Through this book, we also find navigation and vision algorithms, automatic handwritten comprehension and speech recognition systems that will be included in the next generation of productive systems developed by man

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered