Road bank angle considerations in modeling and tilt stability controller design for narrow commuter vehicles

Abstract

Narrow tilting vehicles that occupy a half width lane can play a big role in addressing traffic congestion problems by effectively doubling the capacity of existing highway lanes. In designing the tilt stability control system of such a vehicle consideration of the road bank angle is crucial since it plays a big role in minimizing the torque requirement of the tilt actuation system. In this paper the dynamic model of a tilting vehicle that takes into account the road bank angle is first developed. Then the design of a direct tilt control scheme that stabilizes the tilt mode of such a vehicle is outlined. Since the controller designed makes use of current road bank angle data, a method is outlined on how to determine the road bank angle from accelerometer readings. Finally simulation results are presented and discussion of the results is given