A Factor-Graph-Based Approach to Vehicle Sideslip Angle Estimation

Sideslip angle is an important variable for understanding and monitoring vehicle dynamics, but there is currently no inexpensive method for its direct measurement. Therefore, it is typically estimated from proprioceptive sensors onboard using filtering methods from the family of the Kalman filter. As a novel alternative, this work proposes modeling the problem directly as a graphical model (factor graph), which can then be optimized using a variety of methods, such as whole-dataset batch optimization for offline processing or fixed-lag smoothing for on-line operation. Experimental results on real vehicle datasets validate the proposal, demonstrating a good agreement between estimated and actual sideslip angle, showing similar performance to state-of-the-art methods but with a greater potential for future extensions due to the more flexible mathematical framework. An open-source implementation of the proposed framework has been made available online

Combining Sensors and Multibody Models for Applications in Vehicles, Machines, Robots and Humans

The combination of physical sensors and computational models to provide additional information about system states, inputs and/or parameters, in what is known as virtual sensing, is becoming increasingly popular in many sectors, such as the automotive, aeronautics, aerospatial, railway, machinery, robotics and human biomechanics sectors. While, in many cases, control-oriented models, which are generally simple, are the best choice, multibody models, which can be much more detailed, may be better suited to some applications, such as during the design stage of a new product