Vehicle Dynamics and Control

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

A vehicle is a typical multi-system-coupled, complex nonlinear dynamic system that exhibits different dynamic characteristics in the lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions, so the research and control objectives in different directions are diverse. Vehicle dynamics and control is based on the dynamic equations of the whole vehicle and each subsystem. The key to obtaining good dynamic performance, stability, smoothness, and safety of vehicles is to control the vehicle speed, yaw rate, tire slip ratio, body roll angle, and vibration acceleration by adopting appropriate control algorithms. In recent years, with the vigorous development of microelectronics, sensing, and automation technologies, people’s requirements for vehicle efficiency, energy saving, and intelligence are increasing. The industry has ushered in the technological changes of electrification, intelligence, and networking, which have also brought new challenges to the research on vehicle dynamics and control. To further improve the power, stability, ride comfort, and safety of vehicles, dynamics and control have become the focus of relevant research by scholars in recent years. We therefore invite papers on innovative technical developments in addition to reviews, case studies, and analytical and assessment papers from different disciplines that are relevant to the topic of vehicle dynamics and control. The main topics of the section include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Vehicle drive system and braking system control;
• Optimal design and control of vehicle suspension systems;
• Lateral and longitudinal vehicle dynamics;
• Dynamics modeling, simulation analysis, and control system design;
• Chassis active control of intelligent electric vehicles.

Prof. Dr. Peter Gaspar
Prof. Dr. Junnian Wang
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Applied Sciences applsci	2.5	5.3	2011	17.8 Days	CHF 2400
Energies energies	3.0	6.2	2008	17.5 Days	CHF 2600
Machines machines	2.1	3.0	2013	15.6 Days	CHF 2400
Sensors sensors	3.4	7.3	2001	16.8 Days	CHF 2600
Vehicles vehicles	2.4	4.1	2019	24.7 Days	CHF 1600

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25 pages, 6600 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Time-Delay Following Model for Connected and Automated Vehicles Considering Multiple Vehicle Safety Potential Fields

by Zijian Wang, Wenbo Wang, Kenan Mu and Songhua Fan

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(15), 6735; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14156735 - 1 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 678

Abstract

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) represent a significant development in the transport industry owing to their intelligent and interconnected features. Potential field theory has been extensively used to model CAV driving behaviour owing to its objectivity, universality, and measurability. However, existing car-following models [...] Read more.

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) represent a significant development in the transport industry owing to their intelligent and interconnected features. Potential field theory has been extensively used to model CAV driving behaviour owing to its objectivity, universality, and measurability. However, existing car-following models do not consider the impact of time delays and the influence of information from multiple vehicles ahead and behind. This paper focuses on the driving-safety risks associated with CAVs, aiming to enhance vehicle safety and reliability during travelling. We developed a multi-vehicle car-following model based on safety potential fields (MIDM-SPF), taking into account the characteristics of multi-vehicle connected information and time delays. To enhance the model’s precision, real-world data from urban roads were employed, alongside an improved optimisation algorithm to fine-tune the car-following model. The simulation experiment revealed that MIDM-SPF significantly reduces stop-and-go traffic, thereby improving traffic flow stability in urban areas. Additionally, we validated the stability of our model under varying market penetration rates in large-scale mixed traffic. Our findings indicate that increasing the CAV proportion improves the stability of mixed traffic flows, which has important implications for alleviating traffic congestion and guiding the large-scale implementation of autonomous driving in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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16 pages, 746 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Performance Improvement of Active Suspension System Collaborating with an Active Airfoil Based on a Quarter-Car Model

by Syed Babar Abbas and Iljoong Youn

Vehicles 2024, 6(3), 1268-1283; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6030060 - 24 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1661

Abstract

This study presents an effective control strategy for improving the dynamic performance index of a two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) quarter-car model equipped with an active suspension system that collaborates with an active aerodynamic surface, using optimal control theory. The model takes several road excitations [...] Read more.

This study presents an effective control strategy for improving the dynamic performance index of a two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) quarter-car model equipped with an active suspension system that collaborates with an active aerodynamic surface, using optimal control theory. The model takes several road excitations as input and applies an optimal control law to improve the ride comfort and road-holding capability, which are otherwise in conflict. MATLAB^® (R2024a) simulations are carried out to evaluate the time and frequency domain characteristics of the quarter-car active suspension system. Individual performance indices in the presence of an active aerodynamic surface are calculated based on mean squared values for different sets of weighting factors and compared with those of passive and active suspension systems. From the viewpoint of total performance, the overall results show that the proposed control strategy enhances the performance index by approximately 70–80% compared to the active suspension system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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13 pages, 2156 KiB  

Open AccessCommunication

The Problem of Stability in Mechanical Systems Using the Example of Mine Hoist Installations

by Agata Drzewosz and Stanisław Wolny

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(15), 6472; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14156472 - 24 Jul 2024

Viewed by 726

Abstract

Investigating the influence of varying shaft steelwork stiffness on the stability of horizontal mass displacements, which are crucial elements of a conveyance-shaft steelwork system, is a significant step in evaluating the risk of parametric vibrations in steel constructions. While the Rayleigh method is [...] Read more.

Investigating the influence of varying shaft steelwork stiffness on the stability of horizontal mass displacements, which are crucial elements of a conveyance-shaft steelwork system, is a significant step in evaluating the risk of parametric vibrations in steel constructions. While the Rayleigh method is limited to the first approximation in the solution to this analysis, it still provides valuable insights. Our examination indicates that the impact of a varying shaft steelwork system may not be noticeable in practical applications. This is a significant finding, as it suggests that the impact of varying stiffness in real working objects may be ignored, because the increase in the parametric resonance effects is negligible. This underscores the importance of our research in understanding the stability of steel constructions. This research, which involves theoretical analysis, simplifies the dynamic analysis of the conveyance-shaft steelwork system’s behavior. The result of the performed analysis is a valuable equation for predicting stable work in real hoist installations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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23 pages, 26729 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Parameter-Driven Methodology of Wheel Flat Modeling for Wheel–Rail Impact Dynamics

by Guangwei Zhao, Nan Li, Yuxin Sun and Changxin Chi

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(13), 5956; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135956 - 8 Jul 2024

Viewed by 864

Abstract

A wheel flat is a typical wheel defect that significantly impacts the wheel–rail system, posing substantial challenges to vehicle operation safety. In the existing literature, the wheel flat plane model does not account for the contribution of the width direction to the impact [...] Read more.

A wheel flat is a typical wheel defect that significantly impacts the wheel–rail system, posing substantial challenges to vehicle operation safety. In the existing literature, the wheel flat plane model does not account for the contribution of the width direction to the impact response and thus cannot accurately reveal the wheel–rail contact state with a flat. This paper systematically proposes a three-dimensional analytical model that considers multiple worn stages and constructs a spatial complex surface reconstruction model for flats based on NURBS technology. A vehicle–track coupled dynamics model, considering the geometry of the flat, is established to investigate the effects of flat geometry on the wheel–rail impact response and contact relationship in detail. The results show that in the subcritical regime, the wear degree of the flat predominantly affects the impact force, while in the transcritical regime, both the wear degree and velocity together determine the magnitude of the wheel–rail impact force. As the wear degree increases, the moment of wheel lateral jump occurs earlier. The spatial modeling method for flats proposed in this paper offers a novel technical approach for accurately simulating the dynamic behavior of wheel–rail contact when a flat is present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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25 pages, 10862 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Improvement of Dynamic Characteristics of Purpose-Built Vehicles Using Semi-Active Suspension System

by Minyoung Kim and Chunhwan Lee

Sensors 2024, 24(13), 4310; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24134310 - 2 Jul 2024

Viewed by 971

Abstract

The diversification of mobility into services such as smart stores and conference rooms has accelerated the development of purpose-built vehicles (PBVs)—vehicles designed for specific purposes that utilize an extended electric vehicle chassis and autonomous driving technology. Despite the standards on speed bump dimensions [...] Read more.

The diversification of mobility into services such as smart stores and conference rooms has accelerated the development of purpose-built vehicles (PBVs)—vehicles designed for specific purposes that utilize an extended electric vehicle chassis and autonomous driving technology. Despite the standards on speed bump dimensions stipulated by the National Land Transportation Act of the Republic of Korea, real-world speed bumps feature varying widths and heights that deviate from these standards. In this study, a velocity equation was derived via regression analysis to achieve the desired dynamic characteristics for a PBV passing over speed bumps with varying shapes through two types of semi-active suspension control: proportional–integral–differential (PID) and linear–quadratic–regulator (LQR). For a cargo-transport PBV, the PID and LQR controllers increased the velocity by 23.74% and 50.74%, respectively, under different speed bump widths and by 19.44% and 38.31%, respectively, under different speed bump heights. Moreover, an analysis of the vibration dose value (VDV), an indicator of ride comfort, revealed that the VDVs calculated using the velocity equation were within an acceptable error range of 10% above the target VDV. These findings provide insights into the speed control required for different types of autonomous PBVs to ensure ride comfort, as well as minimize the driving duration, depending on the specific purpose of the vehicle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 4733 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Coordinated Mode Switch Control Strategy for a Two-Gear Power-Split Hybrid System

by Qinpeng Sun, Xueliang Li, Xinlei Liu and Wei Wu

Machines 2024, 12(7), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12070427 - 21 Jun 2024

Viewed by 863

Abstract

The hybrid system can extend the range of special vehicles and meet the electrical requirements of on-board equipment. In this paper, the driving force plummet problem of a new two-gear power-split hybrid system was studied during gear switches in a hybrid mode. The [...] Read more.

The hybrid system can extend the range of special vehicles and meet the electrical requirements of on-board equipment. In this paper, the driving force plummet problem of a new two-gear power-split hybrid system was studied during gear switches in a hybrid mode. The dynamic model of a hybrid electric system was established, and the effects of the engine angular acceleration and angular jerk on vehicle power and ride performance were obtained. The optimal ratio of the torque change rate of the motor and engine in the mode switch process was proposed. Considering the battery limitation and the external characteristics of the engine, the method of determining the target speed of the engine during shifting was proposed. Considering the response characteristics of each power source, the dynamic coordinated control strategy of multiple power sources in the mode switch process was proposed. The vehicle dynamics model was established based on the Matlab/Simulink 2020b and verified by simulation and a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test. The results show that the dynamic coordinated control strategy can reduce the peak impact by 80.33%, effectively improve the vehicle power and ride performance, and prevent the occurrence of high-current battery charging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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21 pages, 8289 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Application of Continuous Stability Control to a Lightweight Solar-Electric Vehicle Using SMC and MPC

by Anna Lidfors Lindqvist, Shilei Zhou, Benjamin Halkon, Ricardo P. Aguilera and Paul D. Walker

Vehicles 2024, 6(2), 874-894; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6020042 - 28 May 2024

Viewed by 1069

Abstract

This paper investigates the application of contusion stability yaw control of a lightweight solar-electric vehicle. The vehicle’s customized design envelope makes it more sensitive to variations in load due to its low weight and relatively large size. To address this issue, control strategies [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the application of contusion stability yaw control of a lightweight solar-electric vehicle. The vehicle’s customized design envelope makes it more sensitive to variations in load due to its low weight and relatively large size. To address this issue, control strategies were developed using differential motor torques to generate direct yaw moments using the vehicle’s rear in-wheel motors. This paper introduces the working conditions of solar vehicles and demonstrates the necessity of stability control. Vehicle parameters such as mass and center of gravity position are obtained to apply control to the real vehicle. The paper then describes two stability control strategies, using (i) sliding-mode control (SMC) and (ii) model predictive control (MPC). To account for the road bank angle of the test area and the impact of additional weight from a driver and passenger, a Kinematic-Based Observer is designed to estimate the vehicle’s side-slip based on measured values. To collect real-time data, a dSPACE MicroAutobox was installed on the solar vehicle. The results show the effect of the observer and controllers under different vehicle speeds and load conditions. Finally, closed-loop simulation results are presented to support the findings from the open-loop testing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 5362 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on Application of Improved Quantum Optimization Algorithm in Path Planning

by Zuoqiang Du and Hui Li

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 4613; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14114613 - 27 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 800

Abstract

For the building emergency evacuation path planning problem, existing algorithms suffer from low convergence efficiency and the problem of getting trapped in local optima. The Bloch Spherical Quantum Genetic Algorithm (BQGA) based on the least-squares principle for single-robot path planning and Bloch Spherical [...] Read more.

For the building emergency evacuation path planning problem, existing algorithms suffer from low convergence efficiency and the problem of getting trapped in local optima. The Bloch Spherical Quantum Genetic Algorithm (BQGA) based on the least-squares principle for single-robot path planning and Bloch Spherical Quantum Bee Colony Algorithm (QABC) for multi-robots path planning are studied. Firstly, the characteristics of three-dimensional path planning are analyzed, and a linear decreasing inertia weighting approach is used to balance the global search ability of chromosomes and accelerate the search performance of the algorithm. Then, the application algorithm can generate a clear motion trajectory in the raster map. Thirdly, the least squares approach is used to fit the results, thus obtaining a progressive path. Finally, multi-robots path planning approaches based on QABC are discussed, respectively. The experimental results show that BQGA and QABC do not need to have a priori knowledge of the map, and they have strong reliability and practicality and can effectively avoid local optimum. In terms of convergence speed, BQGA improved by 3.39% and 2.41%, respectively, while QABC improved by 13.31% and 17.87%, respectively. They are more effective in sparse paths. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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12 pages, 2143 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Longitudinal and Transverse Coupling Dynamic Behavior and Yaw Stability of an Articulated Electric Bus

by Jinxiang Song, Honglei Qi, Zebin Li, Shiqi Liu, Ze Ren and Qiang Wang

Energies 2024, 17(11), 2449; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112449 - 21 May 2024

Viewed by 627

Abstract

The dynamic behaviors of articulated buses during braking and steering processes are exceedingly complex due to the transmission of various forces and torques by the articulated device. The coupling of forces between the front and rear carriages often renders the bus prone to [...] Read more.

The dynamic behaviors of articulated buses during braking and steering processes are exceedingly complex due to the transmission of various forces and torques by the articulated device. The coupling of forces between the front and rear carriages often renders the bus prone to yaw instability under extreme operating conditions. In this paper, according to the characteristics of the structure and parameter matching of an electrically driven articulated bus, a dynamic model of longitudinal and transverse coupling applied on an articulated bus is established, and the influence of the articulated structure on the yaw stability of the drive vehicle is analyzed. Combined with the relationship between the driving motor, the hinge device, and the vehicle motion, a cruise simulation model of the bus is developed, enabling a comparative analysis and verification of vehicle stability under typical road conditions. The results offer a theoretical foundation for the design and control of highly reliable articulated buses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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18 pages, 2271 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Sim-to-Real Application of Reinforcement Learning Agents for Autonomous, Real Vehicle Drifting

by Szilárd Hunor Tóth, Zsolt János Viharos, Ádám Bárdos and Zsolt Szalay

Vehicles 2024, 6(2), 781-798; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6020037 - 30 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1372

Abstract

Enhancing the safety of passengers by venturing beyond the limits of a human driver is one of the main ideas behind autonomous vehicles. While drifting is mostly witnessed in motorsports as an advanced driving technique, it could provide many possibilities for improving traffic [...] Read more.

Enhancing the safety of passengers by venturing beyond the limits of a human driver is one of the main ideas behind autonomous vehicles. While drifting is mostly witnessed in motorsports as an advanced driving technique, it could provide many possibilities for improving traffic safety by avoiding accidents in extreme traffic situations. The purpose of the research presented in this article is to provide a machine learning-based solution to autonomous drifting as a proof of concept for vehicle control at the limits of handling. To achieve this, reinforcement learning (RL) agents were trained for the task in a MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation environment, using the state-of-the-art Soft Actor–Critic (SAC) algorithm. The trained agents were tested in reality at the ZalaZONE proving ground on a series production sports car with zero-shot transfer. Based on the test results, the simulation environment was improved through domain randomization, until the agent could perform the task both in simulation and in reality on a real test car. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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14 pages, 5817 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Development of a New Vertical Dynamic Model of a Rail Vehicle for the Analysis of Ride Comfort

by Yusuf Çati, Mesut Düzgün and Frédéric Etienne Kracht

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(9), 3848; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14093848 - 30 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1319

Abstract

The rail vehicle industry wants to produce vehicles with higher speeds, to maintain and increase its market share. However, when the speed of the vehicle increases, it may have an undesirable effect on ride comfort, in terms of ride dynamics. Recent developments towards [...] Read more.

The rail vehicle industry wants to produce vehicles with higher speeds, to maintain and increase its market share. However, when the speed of the vehicle increases, it may have an undesirable effect on ride comfort, in terms of ride dynamics. Recent developments towards lighter and faster vehicles make the problem of ride comfort at higher speeds increasingly important. Focusing on the behavior of flexible rather than rigid body behavior should not be neglected when designing long and light car bodies. There are several approaches to incorporate body flexibility in multibody simulations and they have some superiorities and weaknesses. In this study, an efficient and accurate vertical dynamic model for the ride comfort analysis is developed and implemented in a commercial object-oriented modeling (OOM) software Dymola (2015 FD01) which uses the open-source code Modelica. This model includes car body flexibility with the assembling of a rigid body approach. The developed model is compared to a three-dimensional vehicle model in the commercial Vampire software (Pro V5.50) at different velocities. For the vertical ride comfort analysis, the ISO 2631-1 standard was used for both the developed model and the three-dimensional model. The results are presented as acceleration history and $a^{wrms}$—weighted r.m.s (root mean square) of accelerations—as required by the standard. The developed model has shown its feasibility in terms of its efficiency and accuracy for the vertical ride comfort analysis. The accuracy of the model is evidenced by the fact that the car body vibration level at high speeds shows minor differences compared to the results of the Vampire, which is a validated commercial software in the area of rail vehicle dynamics. The approach involving the assembly of rigid bodies is applied for the first time for high-speed trains in dynamical modelling, with flexible car bodies for ride comfort analysis. Furthermore, it can be used for parametrical studies focusing on ride comfort, thereby offering a quite beneficial framework for addressing the challenges of ride comfort analysis in high-speed rail vehicles. Improvements for and analyses of other aspects are also possible, since the optimization and other useful libraries are readily available in Dymola/Modelica. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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27 pages, 6705 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Trajectory Tracking Control Design for 4WS Vehicle Based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Phase Plane Analysis

by Yang Sun, Haonan Ning, Haiyang Wang, Chao Wang and Jiushuai Zheng

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(9), 3664; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14093664 - 25 Apr 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 885

Abstract

With the rapid development of today’s society, the traffic environment has become more and more complex. As an essential part of intelligent vehicles, trajectory tracking has attracted significant attention for its stability and safety. It is prone to poor accuracy and instability in [...] Read more.

With the rapid development of today’s society, the traffic environment has become more and more complex. As an essential part of intelligent vehicles, trajectory tracking has attracted significant attention for its stability and safety. It is prone to poor accuracy and instability in extreme working conditions like high speed. In this paper, a trajectory tracking control strategy to ensure lateral stability at a high speed and low attachment limit conditions is proposed for distributed drive vehicles. The model predictive controller (MPC) was used to control the front wheel angle, and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was designed to optimize the MPC control parameters adaptively. The sliding mode controller controls the rear wheel angle, and the vehicle instability degree is judged by analyzing the β − $\dot{\mathsf{\beta }}$ phase plane. The controllers of different instability degrees are designed herein. Finally, a torque divider is designed to consider the actuation anti-slip. The designed controller is verified by Carsim and MATLAB-Simulink co-simulation. The results show that the trajectory tracking controller designed in this paper effectively improves the tracking accuracy under the premise of ensuring stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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22 pages, 6644 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Force in Cable of Pretensioner Tube—A Possibility of Car Accident Reconstruction

by Adrian Soica

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(7), 3087; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14073087 - 6 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1325

Abstract

The reconstruction of traffic accidents has grown as an interdisciplinary field, encompassing bodies of research from automotive engineering, traffic and transport engineering, biomechanics, and forensic sciences. In this work, a method is proposed by which the value of the force in the safety [...] Read more.

The reconstruction of traffic accidents has grown as an interdisciplinary field, encompassing bodies of research from automotive engineering, traffic and transport engineering, biomechanics, and forensic sciences. In this work, a method is proposed by which the value of the force in the safety belt buckle can be determined provided the belt buckle is equipped with a pretensioning system with a pyrotechnic trigger in the pretensioner tube, PBP—Pyrotechnical Buckle Pretensioner, or PLP—Pyrotechnical Lap Pretensioner type. The anti-return system of the pretensioner mechanism, which prevents the passenger’s body from moving forward, contains a set of balls that block the movement of the piston in the pretensioner tube after its activation. When limiting the movement, the force the human body exerts on the safety belt webbing is transformed into the deformation of the pretensioner tube by the balls of the anti-return system. Depending on the magnitude of the force, the marks left by the balls differ. This is an alternative method for determining the force that occurs in a seatbelt and causes injury to the occupants of a vehicle. The advantage of this method is that the force in the seatbelt buckle cable can be determined relatively quickly and accurately by analyzing the deformations in the pretensioner tube, without a need for expensive laboratory equipment. The limitation of the model resides in the consideration of a static system with rigid bodies. The correlation between the normal force causing the deformation of the tube and the force in the belt buckle cable is obtained by means of a mechanical model that explains the operation of the anti-return system. By comparing the values of the normal force given by the proposed model and the elastoplastic model, a good correlation is found. Finally, a regression curve is determined to help the expert in approximating the force in the buckle cable depending on the deformation size in the pretensioner tube. The value of this force also enables biomechanical or medical specialists to correlate the degree of injury to occupants of a vehicle depending on the force in the seatbelt. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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11 pages, 4322 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Tire Side-Slip Angles Based on the Frequency Domain Lateral Acceleration Characteristics Inside Tires

by Yu Tang, Liang Tao, Yuanqiang Li, Dashan Zhang and Xiaolong Zhang

Machines 2024, 12(4), 229; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12040229 - 29 Mar 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1568

Abstract

The identification and control of tire side slip angle is the key to vehicle stability control. Intelligent tire technology based on the sensing of side-slip acceleration inside the tire provides a novel method for estimating the tire side-slip angle. This study proposed a [...] Read more.

The identification and control of tire side slip angle is the key to vehicle stability control. Intelligent tire technology based on the sensing of side-slip acceleration inside the tire provides a novel method for estimating the tire side-slip angle. This study proposed a method to estimate the tire side-slip angle by using the frequency domain lateral acceleration of the tire. First, an intelligent tire testing system was constructed by independently developing a special rim assembly and data collector. A three-axis accelerometer was placed on the right side of the tire, and the acceleration value was acquired by using a wired method with a sampling frequency of 50 kHz. Second, based on the constructed test system, a tire side deflection test was carried out on the Flat Trac bench. Through data analysis, it was found that the lateral acceleration was in the frequency domain of 400 Hz. As the side-slip angle increased from −4° to 4°, the vibration amplitude gradually decreased. Moreover, the vibration amplitude within 0.5~2 kHz was highly correlated with the side-slip angle. Subsequently, the vibration amplitude of the lateral acceleration within 2 kHz was extracted at an interval of 20 Hz as the feature point, and a frequency domain data set FDAy3 was established together with the vertical load and tire pressure. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm was employed to make predictions on the data set. The grid search method was utilized to find the optimal parameter values of the model penalty factor c and radial basis kernel function coefficient g, which were 1.4142 and 0.0884, respectively. The results suggested that the root mean square error of the model prediction was 0.0806°, and the maximum estimated angle deviation of the prediction was 0.4587°. Meanwhile, the optimal prediction accuracy and real-time performance were achieved when the number of feature points and the feature frequency band were 25 and within 500 Hz, respectively. The findings of this study confirm that it is feasible to estimate the tire side-slip angle based on the frequency domain lateral acceleration of the tire, which provides a new method for tire side-slip angle estimation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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21 pages, 4830 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on Inertial Force Attenuation Structure and Semi-Active Control of Regenerative Suspension

by Huixin Song, Mingming Dong and Xin Wang

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2314; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062314 - 9 Mar 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1041

Abstract

To improve the energy recovery ability of the energy-regenerative suspension, a transmission is generally used to increase the motor speed, but this results in a significant increase in the equivalent inertial mass of the suspension. The research on energy-regenerative suspension has been ongoing [...] Read more.

To improve the energy recovery ability of the energy-regenerative suspension, a transmission is generally used to increase the motor speed, but this results in a significant increase in the equivalent inertial mass of the suspension. The research on energy-regenerative suspension has been ongoing for more than 20 years, but there have been few product applications, mainly due to the failure to solve the problem of the deterioration of suspension performance caused by equivalent inertial mass. This paper proposes a new suspension configuration with the suspension shock absorber connected to a high-frequency vibration reduction structure and establishes a vibration transmission model. Through frequency domain analysis, it has been conclusively proven that the new-configuration can significantly reduce both the sprung mass acceleration and relative dynamic load of the energy regenerative suspension. On the basis of frequency domain analysis, a scheme based on PWM control of the dissipation resistance value of the energy regenerative suspension is proposed, and through bench comparison experiments, it has been verified that the new-configuration suspension can eliminate the oscillation of the damping force curve of the shock absorber and significantly improve the suspension performance. Further experiments show that using the skyhook semi-active control algorithm the new-configuration suspension can further reduce the sprung mass acceleration and relative dynamic load. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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34 pages, 16151 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Dynamic Modeling, Dynamic Characteristics, and Slight Self-Guidance Ability at High Speeds of Independently Rotating Wheelset for Railway Vehicles

by Xingheng Jia, Yuming Yin and Wenjun Wang

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 1548; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14041548 - 15 Feb 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1181

Abstract

For better small-radius curve negotiation performance, the independently rotating wheelset has the potential to be equipped in urban rail transit. As a crucial part of the running gear, its dynamic characteristics directly affect the railway vehicle’s stability and curve negotiation ability. This study [...] Read more.

For better small-radius curve negotiation performance, the independently rotating wheelset has the potential to be equipped in urban rail transit. As a crucial part of the running gear, its dynamic characteristics directly affect the railway vehicle’s stability and curve negotiation ability. This study follows a model–simulation–experiment method to delve into the dynamic process and steady convergent process of the independently rotating wheelset. An improved mathematical dynamic model of the independently rotating wheelset is established, considering the gravitational restoring forces of the wheelset and different creepages between the left and right wheels. In addition, the gyroscopic effects on the independently rotating wheelset with positive wheel tread conicity and at high speeds are introduced and analyzed. With variations in the longitudinal speed and yaw suspension coefficients, three kinds of motions, derailment, hunting, and offset running, occur on the independently rotating wheelset. We find that the gyroscopic effects contribute to the slight self-guidance ability of the independently rotating wheelset, causing a hunting motion at high speeds. Through sufficient simulations, the improved mathematical dynamic model is verified to be closer to the dynamic model built in the general multibody system simulation software SIMPACK 2018 than the classical mathematical dynamic model. Further, we perform experiments on a scaled independently rotating wheelset experiment system. The dynamic characteristics derived from theoretical analysis, especially the slight self-guidance ability at high speeds, are verified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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19 pages, 3523 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Validation of a Passenger Car Tire Using Finite Element Analysis

by Haniyeh Fathi, Zeinab El-Sayegh, Jing Ren and Moustafa El-Gindy

Vehicles 2024, 6(1), 384-402; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6010016 - 9 Feb 2024

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2448

Abstract

This paper focuses on the modeling and analysis of a four-groove passenger car tire, size 235/55R19, using finite element analysis. The Mooney–Rivlin material model is employed to define the hyperelastic behavior of the tire rubber compounds for all solid elements. The tire rim [...] Read more.

This paper focuses on the modeling and analysis of a four-groove passenger car tire, size 235/55R19, using finite element analysis. The Mooney–Rivlin material model is employed to define the hyperelastic behavior of the tire rubber compounds for all solid elements. The tire rim is modeled as a rigid body using aluminum alloy material, and the beads are modeled as beam elements using steel material. The tire model is validated in both static and dynamic domains through several simulations and is compared to published measured data. The tire is validated using footprint and vertical stiffness tests in the static domain. In the static footprint test, a steady-state vertical load is applied, and the tire–road contact area is computed. In the vertical stiffness test, a ramp vertical load is applied, and the tire’s vertical displacement is measured to calculate the tire’s vertical stiffness. In the dynamic domain, the tire is validated using drum-cleat and cornering tests. In the drum-cleat test, a drum with a 2.5 m diameter and a cleat with a 15 mm radius is used to excite the tire structure and obtain the frequency of the vertical and longitudinal first modes of vibration, that is, by applying the fast Fourier transformation (FFT) of the vertical and longitudinal reaction forces at the tire center. In addition to this test, the tire model is pre-steered on a flat surface with a two-degree slip angle and subjected to a steady state linear speed of 10 km/h to predict the cornering force and compute the cornering stiffness. In addition, the effect of tire longitudinal speed on the rolling resistance coefficient is then predicted at zero slip angle using the ISO 28580 rolling resistance test. The findings of this research work provide insights into passenger car tire–road interaction analysis and will be further used to perform tire rubber compound material model sensitivity analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 8905 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Three-Phase 75 kW Brushless Direct Current Motor for Electric Vehicles: Different Power Stage Design, Calculation of Losses, Cooling Techniques, and Comparison

by Ali Bahadir, Omer Aydogdu and Elif Bahadir

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 1365; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14041365 - 7 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1233

Abstract

This study focuses on determining the technical specifications and parameters of an all-electric passenger vehicle, modeling it according to these parameters, selecting the appropriate electric motor as a result of the modeling, and then designing and making a new 75 kW three-phase DC-AC [...] Read more.

This study focuses on determining the technical specifications and parameters of an all-electric passenger vehicle, modeling it according to these parameters, selecting the appropriate electric motor as a result of the modeling, and then designing and making a new 75 kW three-phase DC-AC converter (inverter) as per to automotive standards for the brushless DC motor used for vehicle propulsion. Three different power stage designs are conducted and compared. The system losses were calculated, and three variants of cooling systems were used for cooling the power stage to reduce losses. Performances of such cooling systems were compared. Air cooling, fan-assisted air cooling, and liquid cooling structures are designed for power stage cooling, and the performances of these three systems were compared. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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40 pages, 59857 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Planning Speed Mode of All-Wheel Drive Autonomous Vehicles Considering Complete Constraint Set

by Maksym Diachuk and Said M. Easa

Vehicles 2024, 6(1), 191-230; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6010008 - 12 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1181

Abstract

The study aims to improve the technique of motion planning for all-wheel drive (AWD) autonomous vehicles (AVs) by including torque vectoring (TV) models and extended physical constraints. Four schemes for realizing the TV drive were considered: with braking internal wheels, using a rear-axle [...] Read more.

The study aims to improve the technique of motion planning for all-wheel drive (AWD) autonomous vehicles (AVs) by including torque vectoring (TV) models and extended physical constraints. Four schemes for realizing the TV drive were considered: with braking internal wheels, using a rear-axle sport differential (SD), with braking front internal wheel and rear-axle SD, and with SDs on both axles. The mathematical model combines 2.5D vehicle dynamics model and a simplified drivetrain model with the self-locking central differential. The inverse approach implies optimizing the distribution of kinematic parameters by imposing a set of constraints. The optimization procedure uses the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) technique for the nonlinear constrained minimization. The Gaussian N-point quadrature scheme provides numerical integration. The distribution of control parameters (torque, braking moments, SDs’ friction moment) is performed by evaluating linear and nonlinear algebraic equations inside of optimization. The technique proposed demonstrates an essential difference between forecasts built with a pure kinematic model and those considering the vehicle’s drive/control features. Therefore, this approach contributes to the predictive accuracy and widening model properties by increasing the number of references, including for actuators and mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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31 pages, 5696 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Analysis of Multi-Scale and Rayleigh Approaches in Capturing Eigenfrequencies and Mode Shape Evaluation in Planetary Gear Transmission Systems of Medium and Heavy Trucks

by Mahmoud Mabrouk, Pu Gao, Keyu Yan, Yunkun Xie and Qi Yan

Machines 2024, 12(1), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12010048 - 10 Jan 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1222

Abstract

Within planetary gear transmissions (PGTs), mode shapes and eigenfrequencies hold a crucial significance in operational reliability and efficacy. Mode shapes explain the unique motion patterns inherent in PGT systems. Conversely, eigenfrequencies describe the inherent frequencies at which PGT systems undergo vibration or oscillation [...] Read more.

Within planetary gear transmissions (PGTs), mode shapes and eigenfrequencies hold a crucial significance in operational reliability and efficacy. Mode shapes explain the unique motion patterns inherent in PGT systems. Conversely, eigenfrequencies describe the inherent frequencies at which PGT systems undergo vibration or oscillation upon exposure to external forces or disruptions. This research paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the dynamic behavior of a three-stage PGT utilized in medium and heavy trucks. This study introduces the Rayleigh energy method to assess system dynamics, revealing a bounded Rayleigh quotient related to the highest related eigenvalue. Then, this study delves into eigenfrequencies and the mode shape behavior of the adopted PGT model. The eigenfrequencies are identified as encompassing diverse vibrational modes of central components and planet gears. Moreover, a multi-scale analysis of the adopted PGT model is presented by deriving matrices for mass, bearing stiffness, and mesh stiffness. Comparisons with the Rayleigh energy method demonstrate the new approach’s efficiency, exhibiting a low margin of error in the determination of eigenfrequencies. This investigation also highlights the alignment of identified mode shapes with the established literature, detailing the multi-scale approach’s minor deviation in mode shape determination compared to the Rayleigh energy method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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19 pages, 16073 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Minimizing Fuel Consumption for Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization

by Vincent Roberge, Gilles Labonté and Mohammed Tarbouchi

Sensors 2024, 24(2), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24020408 - 9 Jan 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1430

Abstract

This paper presents a method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) for optimizing the power settings of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) along a given trajectory in order to minimize fuel consumption and maximize autonomy during surveillance missions. UAVs are widely used in surveillance [...] Read more.

This paper presents a method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) for optimizing the power settings of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) along a given trajectory in order to minimize fuel consumption and maximize autonomy during surveillance missions. UAVs are widely used in surveillance missions and their autonomy is a key characteristic that contributes to their success. Providing a way to reduce fuel consumption and increase autonomy provides a significant advantage during the mission. The method proposed in this paper included path smoothing techniques in 3D for fixed-wing UAVs based on circular arcs that overfly the waypoints, an essential feature in a surveillance mission. It used the equations of motions and the decomposition of Newton’s equation to compute the fuel consumption based on a given power setting. The proposed method used PSO to compute optimized power settings while respecting the absolute physical constraints, such as the load factor, the lift coefficient, the maximum speed and the maximum amount of fuel onboard. Finally, the method was parallelized on a multicore processor to accelerate the computation and provide fast optimization of the power settings in case the trajectory was changed in flight by the operator. Our results showed that the proposed PSO was able to reduce fuel consumption by up to 25% in the trajectories tested and the parallel implementation provided a speedup of 21.67× compared to a sequential implementation on the CPU. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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19 pages, 7630 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Vehicle Density Estimation Traffic Light Control System Using a Two-Dimensional Convolution Neural Network

by Malose John Mathiane, Chunling Tu, Pius Adewale and Mukatshung Nawej

Vehicles 2023, 5(4), 1844-1862; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5040099 - 15 Dec 2023

Viewed by 3565

Abstract

One of the world’s challenges is the amount of traffic on the roads. Waiting for the green light is a major cause of traffic congestion. Low throughput rates and eventual congestion come from many traffic signals that are hard coded, irrespective of the [...] Read more.

One of the world’s challenges is the amount of traffic on the roads. Waiting for the green light is a major cause of traffic congestion. Low throughput rates and eventual congestion come from many traffic signals that are hard coded, irrespective of the volume of the amount of traffic. Instead of depending on predefined time intervals, it is essential to build a traffic signal control system that can react to changing vehicle densities. Emergency vehicles, like ambulances, must be given priority at the intersection so as not to spend more time at the traffic light. Computer vision techniques can be used to improve road traffic signal control and reduce real-time traffic delays at intersections without the requirement for substantial infrastructure analysis. Long wait times and significant energy consumption are just two of the problems of the current traffic signal control system. To optimal efficiency, the traffic signal’s duration must be dynamically changed to account for current traffic volume. To lessen congestion, the approach taken in this research focuses on modifying traffic signal time determined by the density of vehicles at the crossroads. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate heavy traffic and emergency vehicle prioritization from all directions at the traffic intersection for a speedy passage. Using the Pygame tool, the proposed method in this study, which includes a mechanism for estimating traffic density and prioritization by counting vehicles at a traffic junction, is demonstrated. The vehicle throughput for the adaptive traffic light built using Pygame is compared with the vehicle pass rate for the adaptive traffic light built using Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO). The simulation results show that the adaptive traffic light built using Pygame achieves 90% throughput compared to the adaptive traffic light built using SUMO. A Two-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (2D-CNN) is implemented using Tensorflow for vehicle classification. The 2D-CNN model demonstrated 96% accuracy in classifying vehicles using the test dataset. Additionally, emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, are given priority for quick passing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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17 pages, 8929 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Autonomous Vehicle Stability through Pre-Emptive Braking Control for Emergency Collision Avoidance

by Fei Lai and Xiaoyu Wang

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(24), 13219; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132413219 - 13 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1273

Abstract

A pre-emptive braking control method is proposed to improve the stability of autonomous vehicles during emergency collision avoidance, aiming to imitate the realistic human driving experience. A linear model predictive control is used to derive the front wheel steering angle to track a [...] Read more.

A pre-emptive braking control method is proposed to improve the stability of autonomous vehicles during emergency collision avoidance, aiming to imitate the realistic human driving experience. A linear model predictive control is used to derive the front wheel steering angle to track a predefined fifth-degree polynomial trajectory. Based on a two-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) vehicle dynamics model, the maximum stable vehicle speed during collision avoidance can be determined. If the actual vehicle speed exceeds the maximum stable vehicle speed, braking action will be applied to the vehicle. Furthermore, four-wheel steering (4WS) control and direct yaw moment control (DYC) are employed to further improve the stability of the vehicle during collision avoidance. Simulation results under a double lane change scenario demonstrate that the control system incorporating pre-emptive braking, 4WS, and DYC can enhance the vehicle stability effectively during collision avoidance. Compared to the 2WS system without pre-emptive braking control, the maximum stable vehicle speed of the integrated control system can be increased by at least 56.9%. The proposed integrated control strategy has a positive impact on the safety of autonomous vehicles, and it can also provide reference for the research and development of autonomous driving systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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19 pages, 4462 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on a Comprehensive Evaluation Method of Train Anti-Slip System Performance

by Gaowei Zhou, Hongfeng Qi, Hao Yu, Jiajun Zhou and Fei Gao

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(24), 13127; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132413127 - 9 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1071

Abstract

The quality of a train’s braking anti-slip control system has a significant impact on train safety and braking performance. Currently, there is no established standard evaluation method for anti-slip control systems, making it an important area of research in the academic community. This [...] Read more.

The quality of a train’s braking anti-slip control system has a significant impact on train safety and braking performance. Currently, there is no established standard evaluation method for anti-slip control systems, making it an important area of research in the academic community. This article comprehensively considers four key indexes: adhesive coefficient utilization rate, air consumption increase ratio, wheel slip work, and anti-slip valve action frequency. The evaluation system takes into account the influence of load layer and braking level, and proposes a comprehensive evaluation method for train anti-slip control based on multi-factor hierarchical analysis. A series of experiments were conducted using a semi-physical simulation test bench for anti-slip evaluation, aimed at comprehensively evaluating two different anti-slip control strategies. By applying the method proposed in this article, the above four indexes and their corresponding weights of two anti-slip control strategies under different conditions were calculated. Finally, the comprehensive evaluation result R1 of anti-slip control strategy 1 was calculated as 0.8389, while the comprehensive evaluation result R2 of anti-slip control strategy 2 was calculated as 0.7912. Based on the comprehensive evaluation results, it is evident that the anti-slip comprehensive evaluation method established in this article is comprehensive and scientific, with concise and clear evaluation results. This method carries certain reference significance for the design of future anti-slip evaluation methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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12 pages, 4496 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Design and Implementation of an Embedded Data Acquisition System for Vehicle Vertical Dynamics Analysis

by Joyce Ingrid Venceslau de Souto, Álvaro Barbosa da Rocha, Raimundo Nonato Calazans Duarte and Eisenhawer de Moura Fernandes

Sensors 2023, 23(23), 9491; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23239491 - 29 Nov 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1416

Abstract

With the expansion of electronics in recent decades, it is notorious to observe that embedded systems are increasingly necessary to improve people’s quality of life and to facilitate the diagnosis of systems in general, ranging from pacemakers to control systems. The increased use [...] Read more.

With the expansion of electronics in recent decades, it is notorious to observe that embedded systems are increasingly necessary to improve people’s quality of life and to facilitate the diagnosis of systems in general, ranging from pacemakers to control systems. The increased use of electronic components for technological support, such as telemetry systems, electronic injection, and automotive diagnostic scanners, enhances the perspective of data analysis through an embedded system aimed at vehicular systems. Thus, this work aims to design and implement an embedded data acquisition system for the analysis of vehicle vertical dynamics. The methodology for this study was structured into several stages: mathematical modeling of a motorcycle’s mass-spring-damper system, coding for the Arduino microcontroller, computational data analysis supported by MATLAB software version 9.6, electronic prototyping of the embedded system, implementation on the vehicle, and the analysis of motorcycle vertical dynamics parameters. In addition, a mathematical modeling of the mass-spring-damper system was performed using the state-space method. The system was implemented on the Arduino microcontroller platform, enabling real-time data transfer from a motorcycle. The experimental results have successfully validated the proposed data acquisition system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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15 pages, 4387 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Synthetic Drivers’ Performance Measures Related to Vehicle Dynamics to Control Road Safety in Curves

by Gaetano Bosurgi, Orazio Pellegrino, Alessia Ruggeri and Giuseppe Sollazzo

Vehicles 2023, 5(4), 1656-1670; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5040090 - 9 Nov 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1471

Abstract

The road alignment design relies on the knowledge of vehicle dynamics variables. However, it assumes that drivers faithfully follow the lane axis on straights and curves. Deviating from this assumption leads to unexpected outcomes and can significantly impact users’ safety. In this context, [...] Read more.

The road alignment design relies on the knowledge of vehicle dynamics variables. However, it assumes that drivers faithfully follow the lane axis on straights and curves. Deviating from this assumption leads to unexpected outcomes and can significantly impact users’ safety. In this context, vehicle speed and longitudinal acceleration play a crucial role as key references in the international standards. They provide insights into critical driving aspects; therefore, it is essential to thoroughly analyze their real trends. Broad data collection campaigns should derive synthetic indicators in order to highlight eventual significant deviations between the ideal and real dynamics. To achieve this objective, the authors propose some indexes deduced during an experimental study with a Sim-Easy driving simulator, by AVSimulation. Importantly, these indicators can be freely applied in real driving scenarios without limitations. These indexes were tested on four different horizontal curves and proved effective in identifying relevant characteristics related to longitudinal acceleration and speed. Looking ahead, by analyzing similar data for numerous driving contexts on real roads, infrastructure managers could use this methodology to identify those sections with increased vulnerability for users’ safety. Moreover, the collected data from sensors, processed using these indicators, can be filtered and transmitted to users (via ADAS tools) while driving on a specific road to provide timely warnings about potential difficulties. The indicators control the physical variable (acceleration or speed) on a certain geometric element with reference to what is prescribed by the standard. For example, the acceleration indicators are normalized with respect to a threshold value while for speed indexes, the result depends on the difference between the end control points of the geometrical element. In both cases, international regulations report prescribed or recommended reference values, so the analyst is immediately aware of any critical issues in the maneuver. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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17 pages, 8736 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Co-Simulation Platform with Tire and Brake Thermal Model for the Analysis and Reproduction of Blanking

by Fabio Romagnuolo, Stefano Avolio, Gabriele Fichera, Marco Ruffini, Raffaele Stefanelli and Francesco Timpone

Vehicles 2023, 5(4), 1605-1621; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5040087 - 6 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1702

Abstract

In the world of motorsports engineering, improving brake performance is a crucial goal. One significant factor that affects this performance is the increase in brake disc temperature due to reduced cooling airflow, a phenomenon called “blanking”. This temperature increase also impacts the rim [...] Read more.

In the world of motorsports engineering, improving brake performance is a crucial goal. One significant factor that affects this performance is the increase in brake disc temperature due to reduced cooling airflow, a phenomenon called “blanking”. This temperature increase also impacts the rim and the air inside the tire, causing changes in tire temperature and pressure, which affects the vehicle’s performance. Properly adjusting the brake blanking can be essential to keep the tire running at the right temperature, resulting in maximization of the performance on track. To address this complex problem, this study describes the problem of cooling brake discs, and this problem is then used as an opportunity to introduce a new variable in order to optimize the performance of the vehicle. By changing the thermal evolution of the brake disc, through the blanking, it can change a large percentage of heat that heats the tire. When combining an existing brake model in the literature with a tire thermal model in a co-platform simulation, it was seen that it is possible to work these two models together with the aim of being able to obtain the prediction of the optimal blanking value to be adopted before proceeding on track, thus saving time and costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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19 pages, 13565 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Design and Implementation of Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Environment Using System Identification Method for Independent Rear Wheel Steering System

by Chulwoo Moon

Machines 2023, 11(11), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11110996 - 27 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1758

Abstract

In the automotive field, with the advancement of electronic and signal processing technologies, active control-based chassis systems have been developed to enhance vehicle stability. In this study, a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulation environment was developed to effectively improve time and cost during the development [...] Read more.

In the automotive field, with the advancement of electronic and signal processing technologies, active control-based chassis systems have been developed to enhance vehicle stability. In this study, a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulation environment was developed to effectively improve time and cost during the development process of an independent rear-wheel steering system. The HiL Simulation Environment was developed—a specific test bench capable of simulating driving loads on the prototype. Based on the system identification method, a reaction force modeling technique for the target driving loads was proposed. The full vehicle dynamics simulation model was developed with a lateral maximum error of 4.5% and a correlation coefficient of 0.98, as well as a longitudinal maximum error of 0.1% and a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The reaction force generation system had a maximum error of 2.9%. Using the developed HiL simulation environment, performance verification and analysis of the independent rear-wheel steering system were conducted, showing reductions of 5.1% in lateral acceleration and 5.2% in yaw rate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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25 pages, 7840 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

In-Wheel Motor Control System for Four-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicle Based on CR-GWO-PID Control

by Xiaoguang Xu, Miao Wang, Ping Xiao, Jiale Ding and Xiaoyu Zhang

Sensors 2023, 23(19), 8311; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23198311 - 8 Oct 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3004

Abstract

In order to improve the driving performance of four-wheel drive electric vehicles and realize precise control of their speed, a Chaotic Random Grey Wolf Optimization-based PID in-wheel motor control algorithm is proposed in this paper. Based on an analysis of the structural principles [...] Read more.

In order to improve the driving performance of four-wheel drive electric vehicles and realize precise control of their speed, a Chaotic Random Grey Wolf Optimization-based PID in-wheel motor control algorithm is proposed in this paper. Based on an analysis of the structural principles of electric vehicles, mathematical and simulation models for the whole vehicle are established. In order to improve the control performance of the hub motor, the traditional Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm is improved. In particular, an enhanced population initialization strategy integrating sine and cosine random distribution factors into a Kent chaotic map is proposed, the weight factor of the algorithm is improved using a sine-based non-linear decreasing strategy, and the population position is improved using the random proportional movement strategy. These strategies effectively enhance the global optimization ability, convergence speed, and optimization accuracy of the traditional Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm. On this basis, the CR-GWO-PID control algorithm is established. Then, the software and hardware of an in-wheel motor controller are designed and an in-wheel motor bench test system is built. The simulation and bench test results demonstrate the significantly improved response speed and control accuracy of the proposed in-wheel motor control system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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18 pages, 6420 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Correctness of Mapping the Passage of a Semi-Trailer through a Road Obstacle on a Road Simulator

by Arkadiusz Czarnuch, Marek Stembalski, Tomasz Szydłowski and Damian Batory

Sensors 2023, 23(19), 8225; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23198225 - 2 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1118

Abstract

Road simulators enable accelerated durability tests under similar-to-real road conditions. However, the road simulator itself generates the signals with the appropriate strength and amplitude that is adequate to the response registered by the sensors during the real run. Therefore, there is a need [...] Read more.

Road simulators enable accelerated durability tests under similar-to-real road conditions. However, the road simulator itself generates the signals with the appropriate strength and amplitude that is adequate to the response registered by the sensors during the real run. Therefore, there is a need for verification of the validity of the representation of vehicle runs on a road simulator in terms of the shape of the generated profile and possible sources of uncertainty. The tests in this study were carried out for a multi-axle vehicle passing an obstacle of known shape. Various signals were registered while the vehicle was passing over the obstacle. The MTS (System Corporation) road simulator’s response to the signal given by the obstacle was then checked. The results showed a 99% correlation between the simulation and the road test results. A numerical model of the vehicle was developed to verify the quality of representation of the real conditions by the road simulator, especially in terms of forces resulting from the road profile. Interestingly, the input signal generated by the road simulator provided a very good accuracy of the vehicle response, as tested with use of the numerical model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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18 pages, 1962 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

LTransformer: A Transformer-Based Framework for Task Offloading in Vehicular Edge Computing

by Yichi Yang, Ruibin Yan and Yijun Gu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10232; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810232 - 12 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1342

Abstract

Vehicular edge computing (VEC) is essential in vehicle applications such as traffic control and in-vehicle services. In the task offloading process of VEC, predictive-mode transmission based on deep learning is constrained by limited computational resources. Furthermore, the accuracy of deep learning algorithms in [...] Read more.

Vehicular edge computing (VEC) is essential in vehicle applications such as traffic control and in-vehicle services. In the task offloading process of VEC, predictive-mode transmission based on deep learning is constrained by limited computational resources. Furthermore, the accuracy of deep learning algorithms in VEC is compromised due to the lack of edge computing features in algorithms. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a task offloading optimization approach that enables edge servers to store deep learning models. Moreover, this paper proposes the LTransformer, a transformer-based framework that incorporates edge computing features. The framework consists of pre-training, an input module, an encoding–decoding module, and an output module. Compared with four sequential deep learning methods, namely a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and the Transformer, the LTransformer achieves the highest accuracy, reaching 80.1% on the real dataset. In addition, the LTransformer achieves 0.008 s when predicting a single trajectory, fully satisfying the fundamental requirements of real-time prediction and enabling task offloading optimization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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26 pages, 11434 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on Lateral Maneuverability of a Supercavitating Vehicle Based on RBFNN Adaptive Sliding Mode Control with Rolling Restriction and Planing Force Avoidance

by Guang Yang, Faxing Lu and Junfei Xu

Machines 2023, 11(8), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11080845 - 19 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1469

Abstract

This paper addresses the lateral motion control of a supercavitating vehicle and studies its ability to maneuver. According to the unique hydrodynamic characteristics of the supercavitating vehicle, highly coupled nonlinear 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) dynamic and kinematic models are constructed considering time-delay effects. A control [...] Read more.

This paper addresses the lateral motion control of a supercavitating vehicle and studies its ability to maneuver. According to the unique hydrodynamic characteristics of the supercavitating vehicle, highly coupled nonlinear 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) dynamic and kinematic models are constructed considering time-delay effects. A control scheme utilizing radial basis function (RBF) neural-network-(NN)-based adaptive sliding with planing force avoidance is proposed to simultaneously control the longitudinal stability and lateral motion of the supercavitating vehicle in the presence of external ocean-induced disturbances. The online estimation of nonlinear disturbances is conducted in real time by the designed NN and compensated for the dynamic control laws. The adaptive laws of the NN weights and control parameters are introduced to improve the performance of the NN. The least squares method is utilized to solve the actuator control efforts with rolling restriction in real-time online. Rigorous theoretical proofs based on the Lyapunov theory prove the globally asymptotic stability of the proposed controller. Finally, numerical simulations were performed to obtain maximum maneuverability and verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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22 pages, 11396 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing the Performance and Durability of Commercial Vehicle Cargo Box Frames through Modal Analysis

by Nitisak Numanoy, Kontorn Chamniprasart and Jiraphon Srisertpol

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(16), 9303; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13169303 - 16 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1455

Abstract

The cargo box frame (CBF) is the main structure of a commercial vehicle designed to handle loads and components during travel. The chassis is subject to vibrations caused by rough roads and the components mounted on it. This study proposes a procedure for [...] Read more.

The cargo box frame (CBF) is the main structure of a commercial vehicle designed to handle loads and components during travel. The chassis is subject to vibrations caused by rough roads and the components mounted on it. This study proposes a procedure for analyzing and validating CBF structures using a combination of non-destructive modal analysis and finite element analysis to investigate the vibration characteristics of the four-wheel CBF, including its natural frequency and mode shapes. The CBF’s response to various load conditions, including stress distribution and displacement, was analyzed. The results show that the actuation frequency can affect a truck’s chassis due to the CBF’s natural frequency falling within the excitation range. The resulting mode shape can improve CBF strength, reduce weight, identify defective welds, and determine optimal mounting locations based on the center of gravity (CG) for components such as side-swing doors and cold room panels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 3628 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Discrete Integral Optimal Controller for Quadrotor Attitude Stabilization: Experimental Results

by Gildardo Godinez-Garrido, Omar-Jacobo Santos-Sánchez, Hugo Romero-Trejo and Orlando García-Pérez

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(16), 9293; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13169293 - 16 Aug 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1214

Abstract

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) attitude stabilization problem has been dealt with in many previous works through applying a vast range of philosophies of control strategies. In this paper, a discrete controller based on a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) plus integral action is [...] Read more.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) attitude stabilization problem has been dealt with in many previous works through applying a vast range of philosophies of control strategies. In this paper, a discrete controller based on a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) plus integral action is synthesized to stabilize the attitude and altitude of a quadrotor helicopter. This kind of control strategy allows us to reduce the energy consumption rate, and the desired UAV behavior is properly achieved. Experimental tests are conducted with external disturbances such as crosswinds deliberately added to affect the performance of the aerial vehicle. This provides experimental evidence that the integral part considered in the proposed control strategy contributes to improving the performance of the vehicle under external disturbances. In fact, a comparative analysis of potential and kinetic energy consumption is developed between the Optimal Integral Controller (OIC) and a Proportional Integral Derivative Controller (PID), allowing us to determine the level of improvement of the closed-loop system when the discrete Integral Optimal Controller is applied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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Supplementary material:
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18 pages, 3163 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Vehicle–Bridge Interaction Element: Implementation in ABAQUS and Verification

by Yufeng Dong, Wenyang Zhang, Anoosh Shamsabadi, Li Shi and Ertugrul Taciroglu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(15), 8812; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13158812 - 30 Jul 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2347

Abstract

Vibration analysis of bridges induced by train loads is a crucial aspect of railway design, particularly considering the complexity of vehicle components such as bogie-suspension systems. Consequently, railway engineers have endeavored to improve the computational efficiency and applicability of train models using the [...] Read more.

Vibration analysis of bridges induced by train loads is a crucial aspect of railway design, particularly considering the complexity of vehicle components such as bogie-suspension systems. Consequently, railway engineers have endeavored to improve the computational efficiency and applicability of train models using the finite-element method. This paper introduces a toolbox implemented in ABAQUS through a user-defined element (UEL) subroutine, which incorporates the vehicle–bridge interaction (VBI) element theory. This toolbox effectively handles diverse vehicle–bridge interaction systems. In the proposed theory, the wheel-track contact force is derived based on the bridge response, eliminating the need for an iterative process and significantly reducing computational workload compared to classical physics-based analysis. The presented approach is validated through a moving sprung mass model and a moving rigid bar model. Furthermore, a case study is conducted on a three-dimensional finite-element model of a high-speed railway bridge in China, based on a design sketch, to showcase the capabilities of the developed scheme. The study demonstrates the practical application of the proposed methodology in analyzing vehicle–bridge structures with high complexity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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21 pages, 10452 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Excavating Trajectory Planning of a Mining Rope Shovel Based on Material Surface Perception

by Yinnan Feng, Juan Wu, Baoguo Lin and Chenhao Guo

Sensors 2023, 23(15), 6653; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23156653 - 25 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1693

Abstract

The mining rope shovel (MRS) is one of the core pieces of equipment for open-pit mining, and is currently moving towards intelligent and unmanned transformation, replacing traditional manual operations with intelligent mining. Aiming at the demand for online planning of an intelligent shovel [...] Read more.

The mining rope shovel (MRS) is one of the core pieces of equipment for open-pit mining, and is currently moving towards intelligent and unmanned transformation, replacing traditional manual operations with intelligent mining. Aiming at the demand for online planning of an intelligent shovel excavation trajectory, an MRS excavating trajectory planning method based on material surface perception is proposed here. First, point cloud data of the material stacking surface are obtained through laser radar to perceive the excavation environment and these point cloud data are horizontally calibrated and filtered to reconstruct the surface morphology of the material surface to provide a material surface model for calculation of the mining volume in the subsequent trajectory planning. Second, kinematics and dynamics analysis of the MRS excavation device are carried out using the Product of Exponentials (PoE) and Lagrange equation, providing a theoretical basis for calculating the excavation energy consumption in trajectory planning. Then, the trajectory model of the bucket tooth tip is established by the method of sixth-order polynomial interpolation. The unit mass excavation energy consumption and unit mass excavation time are taken as the objective function, and the motor performance and the geometric size of the MRS are taken as constraints. The grey wolf optimizer is used for iterative optimization to realize efficient and energy-saving excavation trajectory planning of the MRS. Finally, trajectory planning is carried out for material surfaces with four different shapes (typical, convex, concave, and convex–concave). The results of experimental validation show that the actual hoist and crowd forces are essentially consistent with the planned hoist and crowd forces in terms of the peak value and trend variations, verifying the accuracy of the calculation model and confirming that the full bucket rate and various parameters meet the constraints. Therefore, the trajectory planning method based on material surface perception are feasible for application to different excavation conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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22 pages, 4508 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on Virtual Track Train Path-Tracking Control Based on Improved MPC and Hierarchical Framework: A Reconfigurable Approach

by Zehan Wang, Zhenggang Lu, Juyao Wei and Xiaojie Qiu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(14), 8443; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148443 - 21 Jul 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1445

Abstract

The virtual track train (VTT) is a new urban public transportation system that adopts all-axle steering and distributed drive. The Super autonomous Rail rapid Transit (SRT), as one of them, adopts a four-module six-axle structure. In response to its crucial problem, its path [...] Read more.

The virtual track train (VTT) is a new urban public transportation system that adopts all-axle steering and distributed drive. The Super autonomous Rail rapid Transit (SRT), as one of them, adopts a four-module six-axle structure. In response to its crucial problem, its path tracking, this article proposes a reconfigurable dynamic modeling method, which has two parts: a multi-body dynamics model with generalized forces at each module’s center of gravity (CG) as the input, and the CG generalized force model, which expresses the CG generalized forces generated by the wheel control inputs. Then, a path-tracking strategy is proposed based on the improved MPC and hierarchical framework. Firstly, the CG generalized forces of each module required for path tracking were calculated, and then the CG generalized force redistribution was performed and the “virtual axle” method was proposed. Finally, the wheel state of each module was allocated. This strategy reduces the complexity of each layer of the controller and it solves the problem of insufficient actuators in the middle two modules of the SRT. Finally, through a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) real-time simulation and comparison with different control strategies, the control strategy’s effectiveness, adaptability, and robustness were verified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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13 pages, 8990 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Basic Study for Active Steering Wheel System for Steering Burden Evaluation by Driving Position Focus on Driver’s Arm Size

by Daigo Uchino, Ikkei Kobayashi, Jumpei Kuroda, Kazuki Ogawa, Keigo Ikeda, Taro Kato, Ayato Endo, Hideaki Kato and Takayoshi Narita

Vehicles 2023, 5(3), 846-858; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5030046 - 10 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2186

Abstract

As automated driving has not yet been established, on narrow roads where there is no separation between pedestrians and vehicles, it is essential to switch to manual driving. However, when the driver turns the steering wheel from one hand to another on narrow [...] Read more.

As automated driving has not yet been established, on narrow roads where there is no separation between pedestrians and vehicles, it is essential to switch to manual driving. However, when the driver turns the steering wheel from one hand to another on narrow roads, it causes steering burdens and operational errors if the steering feel or burden is not proper. Thus, this study aims to construct an active steering wheel system that provides an appropriate steering feel or burden by controlling the steering reaction torque, driving position and steering gear ratio for each driver. In this paper, we focused on and examined the driving position among these. A two-dimensional steering model that considers the size of the arms for each driver was established to evaluate steering burden. In addition, a basic study was conducted on the appropriate driving position. Then, based on the joint movements and angles calculation, the appropriate driving position that considers the size of the arms was studied by evaluating the joint power. As a result, it was found that if the steering wheel position is too close to the driver, the amount of joint movement increases, and if it is too far away, the joint movement decreases. Therefore, it was found that the appropriate steering wheel position for each driver’s arm length can be considered by using the joint power. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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16 pages, 4525 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Scaled Modular Testbed Platform for the Drivetrain of Electric Vehicles

by Martin R. Kardasz and Mehrdad Kazerani

Vehicles 2023, 5(3), 830-845; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5030045 - 8 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1755

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing explosive growth in public adoption, causing a major shift in research and development priorities by OEMs toward electrified powertrains. To verify EV drivetrain platforms and software models in the design phase, testbeds with specific capabilities are essential. Full-scale [...] Read more.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing explosive growth in public adoption, causing a major shift in research and development priorities by OEMs toward electrified powertrains. To verify EV drivetrain platforms and software models in the design phase, testbeds with specific capabilities are essential. Full-scale vehicle testbeds are expensive, bulky, dissipative, and not easily reconfigurable or movable, making scaled testbeds more attractive, especially for education and research institutes. To support this cause, this paper reports on the development of a small-scale, modular, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed platform for the drivetrain of EVs that is cost-effective, efficient, and easily movable and reconfigurable and allows integration of a battery pack. The testbed is comprised of two directly coupled electric machines. The first machine emulates the traction motor and is used to control vehicle speed according to a specified drive cycle. The second machine is used to impose a torque profile on the first machine’s shaft—based on the vehicle’s parameters and driving environment—and emulates a gearbox (if necessary). A systematic two-way scaling approach is adopted to downscale the parameters and driving environment of full-size EVs to a level that can be handled by the testbed and to upscale the test results obtained from the testbed to the full-size vehicle level. The power consumption of the testbed is limited to system losses. A case study involving a full-size EV was performed and the HIL simulation results were compared to the computer simulation results to verify the performance of the testbed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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32 pages, 11052 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Robust Virtual Sensing of the Vehicle Sideslip Angle through the Cross-Combination of Multiple Filters Using a Decision Tree Algorithm

by Gaël P. Atheupe, Younesse El Mrhasli, Ulrich Emabou, Bruno Monsuez, Kenneth Bordignon and Adriana Tapus

Sensors 2023, 23(13), 5877; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23135877 - 25 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2075

Abstract

This paper presents a state-of-the-art estimation technique by cross-combining a number $n$ of filters for high-precision, reliable and robust vehicle sideslip angle state estimation, over a full range of vehicle operations irrespective of the driving mission and disruptions that may occur in the [...] Read more.

This paper presents a state-of-the-art estimation technique by cross-combining a number $n$ of filters for high-precision, reliable and robust vehicle sideslip angle state estimation, over a full range of vehicle operations irrespective of the driving mission and disruptions that may occur in the system. A machine-learning algorithm based on decision trees connects several filters together to switch between them according to the driving context, ensuring the best possible state estimate for relatively small and large sideslip angle values. In conjunction with the above-mentioned aspects, a seamless transition between different vehicle models is attained by observing the key parameters characterizing the lateral motion of the vehicle. The tests conducted using a prototype vehicle on a snow-covered track confirm the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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21 pages, 4739 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Tires and Vehicle Lateral Dynamic Performance: A Corrective Algorithm for the Influence of Temperature

by Simone Savant, Henrique De Carvalho Pinheiro, Matteo Eugenio Sacchi, Cinzia Conti and Massimiliana Carello

Machines 2023, 11(6), 654; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11060654 - 17 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2419

Abstract

The automotive industry is experiencing increasing competition, and vehicle development is becoming increasingly complex. Manufacturers must therefore be able to rapidly compare the outcomes of experimental tests carried out under different conditions. Robust simulation tools that can adjust for external factors have the [...] Read more.

The automotive industry is experiencing increasing competition, and vehicle development is becoming increasingly complex. Manufacturers must therefore be able to rapidly compare the outcomes of experimental tests carried out under different conditions. Robust simulation tools that can adjust for external factors have the potential to save a significant amount of time. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to propose a method for evaluating the effect of asphalt temperature on tire and vehicle lateral dynamic performance, based on empirical data. Because rubber is a viscoelastic material, its properties are heavily influenced by the operating conditions. Therefore, a corrective algorithm must be created to enable the transfer of results obtained from tests carried out under different asphalt temperature conditions to a reference temperature of 25 °C. This article presents an analytical model that accurately describes this phenomenon, as well as the methods employed to generalize and optimize the model. Generalizability represents a crucial aspect of this research, as the model must be widely applicable across several vehicle categories while requiring minimal data to perform the corrections effectively. Finally, the analytical compensatory tool was incorporated into a MATLAB bicycle model to update the numerical transfer function measurements that describe the vehicle’s dynamic behavior during experimental maneuvers. These results indicate that modest data is needed to achieve good levels of accuracy, making the model and vehicle dynamics implementation promising. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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15 pages, 3267 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Prediction for Future Yaw Rate Values of Vehicles Using Long Short-Term Memory Network

by János Kontos, Balázs Kránicz and Ágnes Vathy-Fogarassy

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5670; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125670 - 17 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2450

Abstract

Currently, electric mobility and autonomous vehicles are of top priority from safety, environmental and economic points of view. In the automotive industry, monitoring and processing accurate and plausible sensor signals is a crucial safety-critical task. The vehicle’s yaw rate is one of the [...] Read more.

Currently, electric mobility and autonomous vehicles are of top priority from safety, environmental and economic points of view. In the automotive industry, monitoring and processing accurate and plausible sensor signals is a crucial safety-critical task. The vehicle’s yaw rate is one of the most important state descriptors of vehicle dynamics, and its prediction can significantly contribute to choosing the correct intervention strategy. In this article, a Long Short-Term Memory network-based neural network model is proposed for predicting the future values of the yaw rate. The training, validating and testing of the neural network was conducted based on experimental data gathered from three different driving scenarios. The proposed model can predict the yaw rate value in 0.2 s in the future with high accuracy, using sensor signals of the vehicle from the last 0.3 s in the past. The $R^2$ values of the proposed network range between 0.8938 and 0.9719 in the different scenarios, and in a mixed driving scenario, it is 0.9624. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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25 pages, 8305 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of a Driving Passenger Vehicle

by Seen Yun, Jeonga Lee, Woojae Jang, Daeji Kim, Minseok Choi and Jintai Chung

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 5903; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13105903 - 10 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3228

Abstract

This study presents a dynamic model of a passenger vehicle and analyzes its dynamic characteristics and responses. A dynamic vehicle model with seven degrees of freedom was established to analyze the behavior of a driving vehicle. The vehicle model had three degrees of [...] Read more.

This study presents a dynamic model of a passenger vehicle and analyzes its dynamic characteristics and responses. A dynamic vehicle model with seven degrees of freedom was established to analyze the behavior of a driving vehicle. The vehicle model had three degrees of freedom for the sprung mass’s motion and four degrees for the unsprung masses. For this model, the equations of motion were derived using Lagrange’s equation. To verify the model, the suspension deformations computed using the model were compared with those measured through three actual vehicle driving tests: the slalom, double lane change, and step steer tests. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of suspension stiffness, suspension damping, and anti-roll bar torsional stiffness on the dynamic characteristics and responses of the vehicle model. This study presented a new full-car model that can analyze a turning vehicle’s behavior in response to changes in the steering angle input. The developed dynamic vehicle model may help vehicle designers predict the dynamic responses of a vehicle through simulation without performing a driving test. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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37 pages, 5714 KiB  

Open AccessReview

Virtual Coupling in Railways: A Comprehensive Review

by Jesus Felez and Miguel Angel Vaquero-Serrano

Machines 2023, 11(5), 521; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11050521 - 1 May 2023

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6093

Abstract

The current mobility situation is constantly changing as people are increasingly moving to urban areas. Therefore, a flexible mode of transport with high-capacity passenger trains and a high degree of modularity in the trains’ composition is necessary. Virtual coupling (VC) is a promising [...] Read more.

The current mobility situation is constantly changing as people are increasingly moving to urban areas. Therefore, a flexible mode of transport with high-capacity passenger trains and a high degree of modularity in the trains’ composition is necessary. Virtual coupling (VC) is a promising solution to this problem because it significantly increases the capacity of a line and provides a more flexible mode of operation than conventional signaling systems. This novel review, in which approximately 200 papers were analyzed, identifies the main topics of current railway-related VC research, and represents the first step toward the implementation of VC in future railways. It was found that industry research has mainly focused on the feasibility of VC implementation and operation, whereas in academia, which is coordinated with industry, research has focused on control and communication systems. From a technological perspective, the main challenges for VC were identified with regard to aspects such as safety, control technology, interlocking, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, cooperative train protection and control, and integrated traffic management. The important directions for future research that have been identified for future development include complete dynamic models, real-time controllers, reliable and secure communication, different communication topologies, cybersecurity, intelligent control, reinforcement learning, and Big Data analytics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 9329 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Research on Yaw Moment Control System for Race Cars Using Drive and Brake Torques

by Ikkei Kobayashi, Jumpei Kuroda, Daigo Uchino, Kazuki Ogawa, Keigo Ikeda, Taro Kato, Ayato Endo, Mohamad Heerwan Bin Peeie, Takayoshi Narita and Hideaki Kato

Vehicles 2023, 5(2), 515-534; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5020029 - 30 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6752

Abstract

The yaw acceleration required for circuit driving is determined by the time variation of the yaw rate due to two factors: corner radius and velocity at the center of gravity. Torque vectoring systems have the advantage where the yaw moment can be changed [...] Read more.

The yaw acceleration required for circuit driving is determined by the time variation of the yaw rate due to two factors: corner radius and velocity at the center of gravity. Torque vectoring systems have the advantage where the yaw moment can be changed only by the longitudinal force without changing the lateral force of the tires, which greatly affects lateral acceleration. This is expected to improve the both the spinning performance and the orbital performance, which are usually in a trade-off relationship. In this study, we proposed a yaw moment control technology that actively utilized a power unit with a brake system, which was easy to implement in a system, and compared the performance of vehicles equipped with and without the proposed system using the Milliken Research Associates moment method for quasi-steady-state analysis. The performances of lateral acceleration and yaw moment were verified using the same method, and a variable corner radius simulation for circuit driving was used to compare time and performance. The results showed the effectiveness of the proposed system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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18 pages, 5067 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Influences on Vibration Load Testing Levels for BEV Automotive Battery Packs

by Till Heinzen, Benedikt Plaumann and Marcus Kaatz

Vehicles 2023, 5(2), 446-463; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles5020025 - 20 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3764

Abstract

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) have an increasingly large share of the vehicle market. To ensure a safe and long operation of the mostly large underfloor-mounted traction batteries, they must be developed and tested in advance under realistic conditions. Current standards often do not [...] Read more.

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) have an increasingly large share of the vehicle market. To ensure a safe and long operation of the mostly large underfloor-mounted traction batteries, they must be developed and tested in advance under realistic conditions. Current standards often do not provide sufficiently realistic requirements for environmental and lifetime testing, as these are mostly based on data measured on cars with an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Prior to this work, vibration measurements were performed on two battery-powered electric vehicles and a battery-powered commercial mini truck over various road surfaces and other influences. The measurement data are statistically evaluated so that a statement can be made about the influence of various parameters on the vibrations measured at the battery pack housing and the scatter of the influencing parameters. By creating a load profile based on the existing measurement data, current standards can be questioned and new insights gained in the development of a vibration profile for the realistic testing of battery packs for BEVs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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Supplementary material:
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23 pages, 11407 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Particle Filter-Based Path Tracking Algorithm of Autonomous Trucks with a Single Steering and Driving Module Using a Monocular Camera

by Sehwan Kim, Munjung Jang, Hanbyeol La and Kwangseok Oh

Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3650; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073650 - 31 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1770

Abstract

Recently, in various fields, research into the path tracking of autonomous vehicles and automated guided vehicles has been conducted to improve worker safety, convenience, and work efficiency. For path tracking of various systems applied to autonomous driving technology, it is necessary to recognize [...] Read more.

Recently, in various fields, research into the path tracking of autonomous vehicles and automated guided vehicles has been conducted to improve worker safety, convenience, and work efficiency. For path tracking of various systems applied to autonomous driving technology, it is necessary to recognize the surrounding environment, determine technology accordingly, and develop control methods. Various sensors and artificial-intelligence-based perception methods have limitations in that they must learn a large amount of data. Therefore, a particle-filter-based path tracking algorithm using a monocular camera was used for the recognition of target RGB. The path tracking errors were calculated and a linear-quadratic-regulator-based desired steering angle were derived. The autonomous trucks were steered and driven using a pulse-width-modulation-based steering and driving motor. Based on an autonomous truck with a single steering and driving module, it was verified that the path tracking could be used in three evaluation scenarios. To compare the LQR-based path tracking control performance proposed in this paper, an elliptical path tracking scenario using a conventional sliding mode control with robust control performance was performed. The results show that the RMS of the lateral preview error of the SMC was approximately 18% larger than that of the LQR-based method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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22 pages, 6067 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Coordinated Optimal Control of AFS and DYC for Four-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicles Based on MAS Model

by Niaona Zhang, Jieshu Wang, Zonghao Li, Nan Xu, Haitao Ding, Zhe Zhang, Konghui Guo and Haochen Xu

Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3505; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073505 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2008

Abstract

The problem that it is difficult to balance vehicle stability and economy at the same time under the starting steering condition of a four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle (4WIDEV) is addressed. In this paper, we propose a coordinated optimal control method of AFS [...] Read more.

The problem that it is difficult to balance vehicle stability and economy at the same time under the starting steering condition of a four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle (4WIDEV) is addressed. In this paper, we propose a coordinated optimal control method of AFS and DYC for a four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle based on the MAS model. Firstly, the angular velocity of the transverse pendulum at the center of mass and the lateral deflection angle of the center of mass are decoupled by vector transformation, and the two-degree-of-freedom eight-input model of the vehicle is transformed into four two-degree-of-freedom two-input models, and the reduced-dimensional system is regarded as four agents. Based on the hardware connection structure and communication topology of the four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle, the reduced-dimensional model of 4WIDEV AFS and DYC coordinated optimal control is established based on graph theory. Secondly, the deviation of the vehicle transverse swing angular velocity and mass lateral deflection angle from their ideal values is oriented by combining sliding mode variable structure control (SMC) with distributed model predictive control (DMPC). A discrete dynamic sliding mode surface function is proposed for the ith agent to improve the robustness of the system in response to parameter variations and disturbances. Considering the stability and economy of the ith agent, an active front wheel steering and drive torque optimization control method based on SMC and DMPC is proposed for engineering applications. Finally, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test bench is built for experimental verification, and the results show that the steering angle is in the range of 0–5°, and the proposed method effectively weighs the system dynamic performance, computational efficiency, and the economy of the whole vehicle. Compared with the conventional centralized control method, the torque-solving speed is improved by 32.33 times, and the electrical consumption of the wheel motor is reduced by 16.6%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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17 pages, 6127 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Fast Distributed Model Predictive Control Method for Active Suspension Systems

by Niaona Zhang, Sheng Yang, Guangyi Wu, Haitao Ding, Zhe Zhang and Konghui Guo

Sensors 2023, 23(6), 3357; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23063357 - 22 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2396

Abstract

In order to balance the performance index and computational efficiency of the active suspension control system, this paper offers a fast distributed model predictive control (DMPC) method based on multi-agents for the active suspension system. Firstly, a seven-degrees-of-freedom model of the vehicle is [...] Read more.

In order to balance the performance index and computational efficiency of the active suspension control system, this paper offers a fast distributed model predictive control (DMPC) method based on multi-agents for the active suspension system. Firstly, a seven-degrees-of-freedom model of the vehicle is created. This study establishes a reduced-dimension vehicle model based on graph theory in accordance with its network topology and mutual coupling constraints. Then, for engineering applications, a multi-agent-based distributed model predictive control method of an active suspension system is presented. The partial differential equation of rolling optimization is solved by a radical basis function (RBF) neural network. It improves the computational efficiency of the algorithm on the premise of satisfying multi-objective optimization. Finally, the joint simulation of CarSim and Matlab/Simulink shows that the control system can greatly minimize the vertical acceleration, pitch acceleration, and roll acceleration of the vehicle body. In particular, under the steering condition, it can take into account the safety, comfort, and handling stability of the vehicle at the same time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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31 pages, 10829 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Study on Multi-Mode Switching Control Strategy of Active Suspension Based on Road Estimation

by Jianze Liu, Jiang Liu, Yang Li, Guangzheng Wang and Fazhan Yang

Sensors 2023, 23(6), 3310; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23063310 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2344

Abstract

In this paper, the least squares method is used to determine the vertical height of the road space domain. Based on the road estimation method, the active suspension control mode switching model is constructed, and the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle in comfort, [...] Read more.

In this paper, the least squares method is used to determine the vertical height of the road space domain. Based on the road estimation method, the active suspension control mode switching model is constructed, and the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle in comfort, safety, and integrated modes are analyzed. The vibration signal is collected by the sensor, and the parameters such as vehicle driving conditions are solved for in reverse. A control strategy for multiple mode switching under different road surfaces and speeds is constructed. At the same time, the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) is used to optimize the weight coefficients of LQR control under different modes, and the dynamic performance of vehicle driving is comprehensively analyzed. The test and simulation results show that the road estimation results under different speeds in the same road section are very close to the results obtained by the detection ruler method, and the overall error is less than 2%. Compared with the active suspension controlled by passive and traditional LQR, the multi-mode switching strategy can achieve a better balance between driving comfort and handling safety and stability, and also improve the driving experience more intelligently and comprehensively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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26 pages, 16743 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study of Path Tracking Controllers on Low Friction Roads for Autonomous Vehicles

by Jaepoong Lee and Seongjin Yim

Machines 2023, 11(3), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11030403 - 20 Mar 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2523

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison among path tracking controllers on low-friction roads for autonomous vehicles. There are two goals in this paper. The first is to check the performance of path tracking controllers on low-friction roads, and the second is to check the [...] Read more.

This paper presents a comparison among path tracking controllers on low-friction roads for autonomous vehicles. There are two goals in this paper. The first is to check the performance of path tracking controllers on low-friction roads, and the second is to check the effectiveness of four-wheel steering (4WS) for path tracking. To fully investigate the performance of path-tracking controllers on low-friction roads in this paper, the pure pursuit method, Stanley method, PID control, linear quadratic regulator, sliding mode control and model predictive control are designed and compared in terms of some measures. Front and four-wheel steering are adopted as actuators for path tracking. To utilize 4WS in the pure pursuit method, Stanley method and PID control, a yaw rate tracking control is adopted. With the designed path tracking controllers, a simulation is conducted on vehicle simulation software. From the simulation results, it is shown that most path tracking controllers are effective for path tracking on low-friction roads if finely tuned, and that 4WS is not recommended for path tracking on low-friction roads. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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27 pages, 6068 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Cooperative Lane Change Control Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles by Considering Preceding Vehicle Switching

by Kang Sun, Xiangmo Zhao, Siyuan Gong and Xia Wu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2193; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042193 - 8 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2319

Abstract

The cooperative lane change among several connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) provides ideas for enhancing the traffic safety and efficiency issues caused by lane changes. However, most of the existing studies mainly focus on the independent analysis of the lateral and longitudinal movements [...] Read more.

The cooperative lane change among several connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) provides ideas for enhancing the traffic safety and efficiency issues caused by lane changes. However, most of the existing studies mainly focus on the independent analysis of the lateral and longitudinal movements of the lane change without considering the impact of the lateral motion on the longitudinal motion. These works usually assume that the target tracking-preceding vehicles are determined for both the lane change vehicle and the following cooperative vehicle in the target lane. This work proposes a model predictive control (MPC)-based cooperative lane change (CLC) control strategy by considering the preceding vehicle switching and the correlation between the lateral and longitudinal motions. It builds the lateral movement based on the appropriate function curve and integrates this lateral movement in the construction of the coordinated longitudinal motion control strategy by using a set of linear piecewise functions in the design of constraints and objective function of the optimization model to provide smooth preceding vehicles switch. An advanced optimization solver is used to solve the optimization control problem step by step. The proposed strategy is validated based on numerical comparative experiments with two typical lane-changing scenarios. The results show that the proposed control strategy can smoothly complete the preceding vehicle switching during the lane change and quickly realize the stable tracking of the target lane vehicles after changing lanes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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26 pages, 5595 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Extended State Observer-Based Adaptive Neural Networks Backstepping Control for Pneumatic Active Suspension with Prescribed Performance Constraint

by Cong Minh Ho and Kyoung Kwan Ahn

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 1705; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031705 - 29 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1848

Abstract

Pneumatic actuator is one of the key technologies in the field of active suspension due to its low cost, cleanliness, and high power-to-weight ratio characteristics. However, the dynamic models and control strategies of the pneumatic suspension have not been well demonstrated because they [...] Read more.

Pneumatic actuator is one of the key technologies in the field of active suspension due to its low cost, cleanliness, and high power-to-weight ratio characteristics. However, the dynamic models and control strategies of the pneumatic suspension have not been well demonstrated because they are nonlinear systems. Besides, the vertical displacement stability of sprung mass is very important for ensuring ride comfort, but accurate control is still a challenging problem in the presence of parametric uncertainties. In this study, an adaptive neural networks backstepping scheme is designed for the stability control of the pneumatic suspension. Firstly, a mathematical model of the pneumatic system is studied to investigate the dynamic system behavior and to obtain the control algorithm. Secondly, an extended state observer is applied to estimate uncertain parameters, unmodeled dynamics, and external disturbances. Thirdly, unknown masses of various load passengers are approximated by using radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs). To enhance the system stability, a proposed control with a prescribed performance function (PPF) is designed to guarantee the vertical displacement of the chassis. Adaptive backstepping control with PPF is developed to stabilize the perturbed system and guarantee tracking performance. Finally, the simulation examples for the pneumatic suspension are employed to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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24 pages, 10178 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Weight Adaptive Path Tracking Control for Autonomous Vehicles Based on PSO-BP Neural Network

by Xianzhi Tang, Longfei Shi, Bo Wang and Anqi Cheng

Sensors 2023, 23(1), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23010412 - 30 Dec 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2871

Abstract

In order to improve the tracking adaptability of autonomous vehicles under different vehicle speeds and road curvature, this paper develops a weight adaptive model prediction control system (AMPC) based on PSO-BP neural network, which consists of a dynamics-based model prediction controller (MPC) and [...] Read more.

In order to improve the tracking adaptability of autonomous vehicles under different vehicle speeds and road curvature, this paper develops a weight adaptive model prediction control system (AMPC) based on PSO-BP neural network, which consists of a dynamics-based model prediction controller (MPC) and an optimal weight adaptive regulator. Based on the application of MPC to achieve high-precision tracking control, the optimal weight under different operating conditions obtained by automated simulation is used to train the PSO-BP neural network offline to achieve online adjustment of MPC weight. The validation results of the Prescan-Carsim-Simulink joint simulation platform show that the adaptive control system has better tracking adaptation capability compared with the original classical MPC control. The control strategy was also verified on an autonomous vehicle test platform, and the test results showed that the adaptive control strategy improved tracking accuracy while meeting the vehicle’s requirements for real-time control and lateral stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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12 pages, 3308 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Joint Estimation of Mass and Center of Gravity Position for Distributed Drive Electric Vehicles Using Dual Robust Embedded Cubature Kalman Filter

by Zhiguo Zhang, Guodong Yin and Zhixin Wu

Sensors 2022, 22(24), 10018; https://doi.org/10.3390/s222410018 - 19 Dec 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2820

Abstract

The accurate estimation of the mass and center of gravity (CG) position is key to vehicle dynamics modeling. The perturbation of key parameters in vehicle dynamics models can result in a reduction of accurate vehicle control and may even cause serious traffic accidents. [...] Read more.

The accurate estimation of the mass and center of gravity (CG) position is key to vehicle dynamics modeling. The perturbation of key parameters in vehicle dynamics models can result in a reduction of accurate vehicle control and may even cause serious traffic accidents. A dual robust embedded cubature Kalman filter (RECKF) algorithm, which takes into account unknown measurement noise, is proposed for the joint estimation of mass and CG position. First, the mass parameters are identified based on directly obtained longitudinal forces in the distributed drive electric vehicle tires using the whole vehicle longitudinal dynamics model and the RECKF. Then, the CG is estimated with the RECKF using the mass estimation results and the vertical vehicle model. Finally, different virtual tests show that, compared with the cubature Kalman algorithm, the RECKF reduces the root mean square error of mass and CG by at least 7.4%, and 2.9%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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20 pages, 7216 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Coordinated Control Strategy of Electro-Hydraulic Composite Braking Torque for the Distributed Electric Vehicles

by Zhigang Zhou, Xiaofei Yin and Jie Zhang

Machines 2022, 10(12), 1235; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10121235 - 16 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2236

Abstract

The difference in response to electric and hydraulic braking causes sudden changes in braking torque during braking mode switching. An electro-hydraulic composite braking system’s dynamic torque coordination control strategy is proposed under braking mode switching conditions. By establishing the dynamic response model of [...] Read more.

The difference in response to electric and hydraulic braking causes sudden changes in braking torque during braking mode switching. An electro-hydraulic composite braking system’s dynamic torque coordination control strategy is proposed under braking mode switching conditions. By establishing the dynamic response model of the electro-hydraulic braking system (EHB), the key factors affecting the response speed of the EHB are analyzed, and the dynamic fuzzy controller for the pressure regulation of the brake wheel cylinder is designed. At the same time, the nonlinearity and hysteresis in the hydraulic braking process are considered, as well as electrical brake response overshoots. The electric brake response model is established, and the PID controller with feedforward feedback is designed to control the motor to adjust the inertia overpressure or lag pressure deficiency in the hydraulic braking process. Finally, the simulation verification is carried out; the results show that the proposed strategy can increase the hydraulic brake response speed by 25.4%, the impact degree of the vehicle is not more than 6.25 GB, and the hydraulic steady state error does not exceed 2.3%, which improves the vehicle ride comfort under braking mode switching. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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10 pages, 669 KiB  

Open AccessCommunication

Adaptive Interaction Control of Compliant Robots Using Impedance Learning

by Tairen Sun and Jiantao Yang

Sensors 2022, 22(24), 9740; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22249740 - 12 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1484

Abstract

This paper presents an impedance learning-based adaptive control strategy for series elastic actuator (SEA)-driven compliant robots without the measurement of the robot–environment interaction force. The adaptive controller is designed based on the command filter-based adaptive backstepping approach, where a command filter is used [...] Read more.

This paper presents an impedance learning-based adaptive control strategy for series elastic actuator (SEA)-driven compliant robots without the measurement of the robot–environment interaction force. The adaptive controller is designed based on the command filter-based adaptive backstepping approach, where a command filter is used to decrease computational complexity and avoid the requirement of high derivatives of the robot position. In the controller, environmental impedance profiles and robotic parameter uncertainties are estimated using adaptive learning laws. Through a Lyapunov-based theoretical analysis, the tracking error and estimation errors are proven to be semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. The control effectiveness is illustrated through simulations on a compliant robot arm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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14 pages, 3295 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Braking Timing Sequence of Semi-Trailer Train Based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

by Shiyuan Feng, Libin Zhang, Hongying Shan and Minghang Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12605; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412605 - 8 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1300

Abstract

A reasonable braking timing sequence plays an important role in the braking stability of a semi-trailer train, but there is still a lack of objective and comprehensive scientific evaluations of braking stability as shown by the braking timing sequence. Aiming at this problem, [...] Read more.

A reasonable braking timing sequence plays an important role in the braking stability of a semi-trailer train, but there is still a lack of objective and comprehensive scientific evaluations of braking stability as shown by the braking timing sequence. Aiming at this problem, through the analysis of relevant regulations and standards at home and abroad, an evaluation index hierarchy model of the semi-trailer train braking timing sequence is constructed. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weight of the evaluation index of each level of the braking timing sequence, and a comprehensive evaluation is obtained. In order to determine the optimal braking timing sequence of the train during braking, a simulation model was established and simulated. Through the combination of index weight and simulation data, the model can provide a theoretical basis for the subsequent study of the optimal braking timing sequence of semi-trailer trains running under different working conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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16 pages, 5025 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Study of a Cornering Braking Control System for a Motorcycle

by Xiao-Dong Zhang and Chih-Keng Chen

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12575; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412575 - 8 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4510

Abstract

Motorcycles are widely used in people’s daily lives for their convenience. Due to their characteristic of static instability, they have a larger roll angle than cars when turning, which brings the hidden danger of overturning. When a motorcycle is turning and braking simultaneously, [...] Read more.

Motorcycles are widely used in people’s daily lives for their convenience. Due to their characteristic of static instability, they have a larger roll angle than cars when turning, which brings the hidden danger of overturning. When a motorcycle is turning and braking simultaneously, the overturn risk rises dramatically. This study presents a novel control system that can ensure stability and braking performance during turning and braking. Given the direct impact of tires on a motorcycle’s behavior, a motorcycle tire model was created via Magic Formula to determine the kinematic parameters that have correlated effects on the longitudinal and lateral characteristics of tires. The slip ratio was defined as the manipulated variable, and a constrained optimization model that aimed to maximize the braking performance and took the stability as the constraint condition was created and solved through the gold section method. The obtained optimal slip ratio was then used as the input for the proposed cornering braking control system that adopted the Fuzzy PID algorithm. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed controller was tested via a co-simulation method, and the simulation results were compared with an ordinary anti-lock braking system. The results demonstrate that the proposed cornering braking control system can take both motorcycle stability and braking performance into consideration at the same time, effectively increasing the security of a motorcycle during braking in a turn. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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18 pages, 4198 KiB  

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Configuration Design and Optimal Energy Management for Coupled-Split Powertrain Tractor

by Haishi Dou, Hongqian Wei, Youtong Zhang and Qiang Ai

Machines 2022, 10(12), 1175; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10121175 - 7 Dec 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2022

Abstract

High-power tractors are regarded as effective operation tools in agriculture, and plugin hybrid tractors have shown potential as agricultural machinery, due to their wide application in energy conservation. However, the allocation of the output power of the motors and engine is a challenging [...] Read more.

High-power tractors are regarded as effective operation tools in agriculture, and plugin hybrid tractors have shown potential as agricultural machinery, due to their wide application in energy conservation. However, the allocation of the output power of the motors and engine is a challenging task, given that the energy management strategy (EMS) is nonlinearly constrained. On the other hand, the structure of the continuous variable transmission (CVT) system is complicated, and affects the price of tractors. In this paper, a variable configuration of a tractor that could have the same performance as a complex CVT system is proposed. To address the EMS issues that have shown poor performance in real time, where the programming runs online, firstly a demand power prediction algorithm is proposed in a rotary tillage operation mode. Secondly, an equivalent fuel consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) is used to optimize the power distribution between the engine and the motors. In addition, the equivalent factor is optimized with an offline genetic algorithm. Thirdly, the equivalent factor is converted into a lookup table, and is used for an online power distribution with different driving mileages and state-of-charge (SOC). The simulation results indicate that the equivalent fuel consumption is reduced by 8.4% and extends the operating mileage of pure electric power. Furthermore, the error between the actual and forecasted demand power is less than 1%. The online EMS could improve the mileage of the tractor working cycle with a more feasible fuel economy based on demand power predictions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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21 pages, 6365 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Predictive Optimal Control of Mild Hybrid Trucks

by Sourav Pramanik and Sohel Anwar

Vehicles 2022, 4(4), 1344-1364; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles4040071 - 1 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2199

Abstract

Fuel consumption, subsequent emissions and safe operation of class 8 vehicles are of prime importance in recent days. It is imperative that a vehicle operates in its true optimal operating region, given a variety of constraints such as road grade, load, gear shifts, [...] Read more.

Fuel consumption, subsequent emissions and safe operation of class 8 vehicles are of prime importance in recent days. It is imperative that a vehicle operates in its true optimal operating region, given a variety of constraints such as road grade, load, gear shifts, battery state of charge (for hybrid vehicles), etc. In this paper, a research study is conducted to evaluate the fuel economy and subsequent emission benefits when applying predictive control to a mild hybrid line-haul truck. The problem is solved using a combination of dynamic programming with backtracking and model predictive control. The specific fuel-saving features that are studied in this work are dynamic cruise control, gear shifts, vehicle coasting and torque management. These features are evaluated predictively as compared to a reactive behavior. The predictive behavior of these features is a function of road grade. The result and analysis show significant improvement in fuel savings along with NOx benefits. Out of the control features, dynamic cruise (predictive) control and dynamic coasting showed the most benefits, while predictive gear shifts and torque management (by power splitting between battery and engine) for this architecture did not show fuel benefits but provided other benefits in terms of powertrain efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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12 pages, 2873 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Powertrain Modal Analysis for Defining the Requirements for a Vehicle Drivability Study

by Federico Longoni, Anders Hägglund, Francesco Ripamonti and Paolo L. M. Pennacchi

Machines 2022, 10(12), 1120; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10121120 - 26 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2172

Abstract

The powertrain of a car plays a major role in establishing the vehicle’s offered comfort due to vibrations because it is the heaviest single component installed on the chassis; therefore, when oscillating, it transmits considerable forces to the chassis, inducing unwanted vibrations. For [...] Read more.

The powertrain of a car plays a major role in establishing the vehicle’s offered comfort due to vibrations because it is the heaviest single component installed on the chassis; therefore, when oscillating, it transmits considerable forces to the chassis, inducing unwanted vibrations. For this reason, it is important to identify some associated properties with the powertrain suspension system that describe the performance of its rigid body dynamics. In this way, we could place constraints and requirements on these quantities in order to exclude all the configurations that cause intolerable levels of vibrations, and include all the others in the analysis for further evaluation. The definition of these requirements is critical: a poor setting of requirements excludes potentially good powertrain suspension setups and includes those ones with a drivability index that is too poor. In this paper, we identify a set of quantities that show correlation with the vibration performance of the powertrain setup. A method for testing the specificity of the requirements is also shown in order to evaluate which requirements perform best when it comes to filtering engine suspension setups that provide an acceptable level of vibrations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vehicle Dynamics and Control)

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