H∞/LPV controller design for an active anti-roll bar system of heavy vehicles using parameter dependent weighting functions

Abstract

Vehicle rollover is a very serious problem when considering the safety of heavy vehicles, which can result in large financial and environmental consequences. This paper investigates the interest of a Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) controller for an active anti-roll bar system of single unit heavy vehicles, in order to enhance roll stability. We propose a parameter dependent H∞/LPV controller with weighting functions, scheduled by the forward velocity (the varying parameter of the vehicle LPV model) and by the normalized load transfers at the two axles (part of the parameter dependent weighting functions) providing an on-line performance adaptation to the vehicle rollover risk. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is validated by using the TruckSim® simulation software with two different types of heavy vehicle: a fully loaded bus and a truck. The simulation results, in the frequency and time domains, show that the proposed strategy drastically improves the vehicle roll stability when compared with a H∞/LTI controller, a fixed weighting functions H∞/LPV controller and a passive anti-roll bar system.