A Lateral Control Strategy for Narrow Tilting Commuter Vehicle Based on the Perceived Lateral Acceleration.

Abstract

AbstractNarrow tilting commuter vehicles are expected to be the new generation of city cars, considering their practical dimensions and lower energy consumption. But their dimensions increase their tendency to overturn during cornering, facing lateral acceleration. This problem can be solved by tilting the vehicle in a way that reduces the perceived lateral acceleration at the cabin during cornering, as it is seen on two wheeled vehicles. So far in literature, the corresponding tilting angle is computed, and the control strategy aims at reaching this desired angle. This paper, presents another control approach, achieving a direct control of the perceived acceleration. The proposed strategy is interesting since it is simple to implement, takes advantage of accelerometer's and gyroscope's measures, and valid on roads with non zero banking angle. As the lateral speed is not practically measured, the paper proposes, for comparison purpose, different (original) ways to get its value without deteriorating robustness. Finally, the proposed solution is a simple robust state feedback controller exploiting all the available measures.