Abstract
This article proposes to utilize linear-quadratic tracking (LQT) control to reduce the air brake system response time and vehicle stopping distance, and hence, to significantly improve the system performance of a commercial vehicle air brake system equipped with electro-pneumatic proportional valve actuators. The nonlinear dynamic model of the air brake system, consisting of a control actuator (a proportional valve) and braking actuator (the brake chamber), is developed and linearized using the q-Markov COVariance Equivalent Realization (q-Markov Cover) method in our early work. Based on the linearized dynamic model, an infinite horizon LQT controller is designed along with Kalman state estimation at each linearized operational condition. To apply the LQT control law over a wide operational range to track the target pressure, the designed controller was interpolated between the neighboring controllers to have a control law cover the entire operational range. To validate this control law, the control scheme is implemented into a dSPACE unit and validated through bench tests under different supply and reference pressures. The LQT control performance is also compared with the PID (proportional-integral-derivative) one. The bench test results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Highlights
As more and more vehicles get on the road, their safety is crucial
Further brake system improvement is made for improving driving safety, such as anti-lock braking (ABS) [2] and adaptive cruise control (ACC) [3]
There are many research literature focusing on the dynamic characteristics of the ABS solenoid valve [2] and the associated ABS control strategies such as fuzzy logic control [4], sliding-mode control [5], linear quadratic control [6], iterative learning [7], nonlinear adaptive control [8], and other control
Summary
As more and more vehicles get on the road, their safety is crucial. One of the key vehicle safety subsystems is its brake system since it plays an essential role in collision avoidance. The model-based control strategies for vehicle air brake systems are studied intensively to regulate the brake chamber pressure accurately. An LQT control strategy, designed based on the identified linear system model using q-Markov Cover, is proposed for the air brake system of commercial vehicles to reduce the system response time, stopping distance, and to track the desired brake chamber pressure trajectory. The main contributions of this article are three-fold: a) the LQT controllers are designed based on the Linear ParameterVarying (LPV) model of the air brake system with the proportional valve to improve the performance of the system at each operating point, where the detailed modeling work is shown in our early work [28]; b) the designed controllers are interpolated to cover the entire operating range; and c) the interpreted LQT controller is validated on a test bench and the simulation and experimental results are compared with that of the PID controller. The details of the modeling process can be found in our early work [28]
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