Simulation of Vehicle Steering Angle and Lateral Acceleration in Mitigating Potential Run-Off-Road Crashes

Abstract


 
 
 This paper proposes and presents the preliminary results of an integrated safety warning system for road vehicles based on lateral g-force monitoring. The proposed system issues a warning to the driver when the lateral load increases above a threshold level thereby reducing the risk of run-off-road crashes and loss of control. From the vehicles dynamic model, soft and hard speed limits are obtained. When the soft limit is breached, it warns the driver using a LED, and when the hard limit is breached, assistive braking is activated. Simulations were conducted to obtain the safe vehicle speed for various steering angle to ensure the lateral g-force remains in the range of 0.7 and 0.9. Vehicle parameters of the Proton Saga 1.3L were used for simulation. Simulation runs to study the effects of changes in steering-wheel angle and vehicle speed on the variation of lateral acceleration was performed, based on which a safe speed is obtained. Simulations were also conducted on both banked and unbanked roads. The results of this study would help in the design of a working prototype of the safety system.