Automated vehicle driveaway with a manual dry clutch on chassis dynamometers: Efficient identification and decoupling control

Abstract

The testing and certification of vehicles in succession to their development are usually achieved on chassis dynamometer testbeds. In this context, the execution of test cycles shall be performed as automatised as possible even if vehicles with manual transmission powertrain are under test. A particular challenge is the vehicle driveaway from standstill by actuating clutch and engine in accordance with each other. In this paper a non-linear decoupling multivariate control scheme based on feedback linearisation considering the accelerator and clutch pedal positions as manipulated variables is proposed. To obtain the required vehicle model for control in a time-saving manner, the clutch torque transmissibility and engine torque characteristic are identified incorporating a Wiener model structure from efficiently designed drive manoeuvres. By applying this model structure, the dynamics can be considered separately from the static non-linearity, which is beneficial for control. In addition to the successful demonstration of the presented workflow and an examination of the controller performance on vehicle system simulation software, the robustness with respect to parameter uncertainties is investigated.