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Development of an Autonomous Test Driver and Strategies for Vehicle Dynamics Testing and Lateral Motion Control

Sidhu, Anmol
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1269352974

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering.
As safety continues to take an increasingly important place in the automobile industry, there has been significant research and development in the area of closed loop control of vehicle dynamics. It first started with antilock brake systems (ABS) that prevented loss of steering control due to wheels locking up with hard braking or low friction. Vehicle dynamics control further developed to include traction control: a system that optimally distributes tractive forces and prevents excessive wheel slip. The most recent developments have been in the area of electronic stability control (ESC). As vehicle technology has evolved over the years and ABS and ESC are now becoming standard on most vehicles, not only automobile manufacturers but even governments and regulation bodies have programs dedicated to ensure standards and understand limitations of these systems. As a result, efforts have been made to develop testing systems and test maneuvers to quantify dynamic properties. This research focuses on studying standard maneuvers and developing new strategies to evaluate and rate the performance of modern vehicles equipped with advanced vehicle dynamic control systems. Another significant development of the last decade is autonomous (or unmanned) vehicles. An important application of autonomous vehicles is automated test drivers, which are systems that replace human drivers in vehicle dynamic testing. This increases the reliability and repeatability of test maneuvers, which is imperative for dependable results in some specialized maneuvers. Most vehicle dynamic tests involve precise actuation of steering wheel or brake/throttle pedals. Steering controllers and braking robots are designed to do just that. One such system designed by SEA, Ltd and used extensively by OSU researchers, has been demonstrated to perform various standard tests accurately for a wide range of vehicles and is also used by various organizations worldwide. In this research the areas of vehicle dynamics control and autonomous vehicles come together; the automated test driver is developed to execute path-following maneuvers to evaluate the performance of vehicle dynamics controllers, including those used in ESC, in evasive driving situations. During evasive maneuvers the tire forces are no longer a linear function of slip angles and the vehicle response is nonlinear and potentially unstable, a condition which the active stability systems are designed to mitigate. The definition of understeer gradient in the linear-range does not lend itself to analysis of nonlinear-range dynamics. Another focus of this research is to assess stability and controllability based on estimation of tire forces. A vehicle observer is designed for the purpose of detecting and measuring understeer and oversteer in dynamic maneuvers. The method can be used to benchmark a vehicle regardless of passive or active control. As an extension of the autonomous steering control problem, this project involves the study of application of active steering for vehicle stability control. Control algorithms are developed that use the information from tire force estimator and driver intent models to yield linearized and predictable vehicle lateral response by an active steering system. This research brings together the development of an automated test driver, active vehicle motion control systems and testing for dynamic stability by using tire force estimation.
Dennis A. Guenther, Prof. (Advisor)
Giorgio Rizzoni, Prof. (Committee Member)
Junmin Wang, Prof. (Committee Member)
Gary J. Heydinger, Dr. (Committee Member)
205 p.
Mechanical Engineering
Vehicle Dynamics Testing; Lateral Motion Control; Autonomous Test Driver; Brake Throttle Robot

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sidhu, A. (2010). Development of an Autonomous Test Driver and Strategies for Vehicle Dynamics Testing and Lateral Motion Control [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1269352974

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sidhu, Anmol. Development of an Autonomous Test Driver and Strategies for Vehicle Dynamics Testing and Lateral Motion Control. 2010. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1269352974.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sidhu, Anmol. "Development of an Autonomous Test Driver and Strategies for Vehicle Dynamics Testing and Lateral Motion Control." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1269352974

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.