Academic literature on the topic 'Steering wheel lever'

A central lever steering mechanism has been synthesized to obtain five precision points for a four-wheel vehicle using Hooke and Jeeves optimization method. This compound mechanism has been studied as two identical crossed four-bar mechanisms arranged in series. The optimization has been carried out for one crossed four-bar mechanism only instead of the entire mechanism. The number of design parameters considered for the optimization is two. The inner wheel has been considered to rotate up to 52 degrees. The steering error, pressure angle and mechanical advantage of the proposed mechanism have been compared with those achieved by the Ackermann steering mechanism. The proposed mechanism has less steering error, more favourable pressure angle and increased mechanical advantage. The method of compounding the mechanism is also applicable when the central lever is offset from the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

Parametric design charts are proposed for the central-lever steering linkage, generated for simplified reference configuration mechanisms, the geometry of which is defined by only four parameters. This highlights the fact, yet not generally acknowledged, that the steering law ensured by a mechanism with adjacent central joints (known as bell crank mechanism), can be identically generated by a triple central joint variant of the same. Particular configurations are identified in which the length of the central lever does not affect the wheel-to-wheel transmission function of the mechanism, permitting a simplified synthesis for the cases in which the maximum stroke of the input member is imposed as a design specification.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide sound understanding of the mutual interactions of the major leaf spring design parameters and their effects on both the stress behavior of the designed leaf and the steering behavior of the vehicle. Design/methodology/approach – Finite elements analyses have been performed referring to the design of a high performance monoleaf spring used for the suspension of the front axle of a serial heavy truck. Design parameters like eye type, eye lever, spring rate and arm rate difference have been parametrically examined regarding the stress performance and their influence on the wheel joint kinematics. The effect of each design parameter is exhibited both qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings – Eye lever and eye type affect significantly the wheel joint kinematics and therewith the steering behavior of the vehicle. Spring rate and arm rate difference affect solely the stress performance of the leaf spring. Practical implications – Design engineers may use the outcomes of this research as a guide to achieve optimal leaf spring design ensuring its operational strength in conjunction with accurate steering performance of the vehicle. Originality/value – The international literature contains only few, mostly qualitative data regarding the effect of single design parameters on the leaf spring and the corresponding axle kinematics. The present work contains a comprehensive and systematic study of all major leaf spring design parameters, and reveals their effect on both the stress behavior and the steering behavior of the vehicle qualitatively and quantitatively.

In this paper, a direct yaw moment control algorithm is designed such that the corrective yaw moment is generated through direct control of driving and braking torques of four in-wheel brushless direct current motors located at the empty space of vehicle wheels. The proposed control system consists of a higher-level controller and a lower-level controller. In the upper level of proposed controller, a PID controller is designed to keep longitudinal velocity constant in manoeuvres. In addition, due to probable modelling error and parametric uncertainties as well as adaptation of unknown parameters in control law, an adaptive sliding mode control through adaptation of unknown parameters is presented to yield the corrective yaw moment such that the yaw rate tracks the desired value and the vehicle sideslip angle maintains limited so as to improve vehicle handling stability. The lower-level controller allocates the achieved control efforts (i.e. total longitudinal force and corrective yaw moment) to driving or regenerative braking torques of four in-wheel motors so as to generate the desired tyre longitudinal forces. The additional yaw moment applied by upper-lever controller may saturate the tyre forces. To this end, a novel longitudinal slip ratio controller which is designed based on fuzzy logic is included in the lower-level controller. A tyre dynamic weight transfer-based torque distribution algorithm is employed to distribute the motor driving torque or regenerative braking torque of each in-wheel motor for vehicle stability enhancement. A seven degree-of-freedom non-linear vehicle model with Magic Formula tyre model as well as the proposed control algorithm are simulated in Matlab/Simulink software. Three steering inputs including lane change, double lane change and step-steer manoeuvres in different roads are investigated in simulation environment. The simulation results show that the proposed control algorithm is capable of improving vehicle handling stability and maintaining vehicle yaw stability.

Various driving assistance systems have been developed to reduce the number of automobile accidents. However, the control laws of these assistance systems differ based on each situation, and the discontinuous control command value may be input instantaneously. Therefore, a seamless and unified control law for driving assistance systems that can be used in multiple situations is necessary to realize more versatile autonomous driving. Although studies have been conducted on four-wheel steering that steers the rear wheels, these studies considered the role of the rear wheels only to improve vehicle dynamics and not to contribute to autonomous driving. Therefore, in this study, we define the risk potential field as a uniform control law and propose a rear-wheel steering control system that actively steers the rear wheels to contribute to autonomous driving, depending on the level of the perceived risk in the driving situation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by a double lane change test, which is performed assuming emergency avoidance in simulations, and subject experiments using a driving simulator. The results indicate that actively steering the rear wheels ensures a safer and smoother drive while simultaneously improving the emergency avoidance performance.

This article presents a design and performance analysis of an Electronic Differential (ED) system designed for Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs). We have developed a test tricycle vehicle with one front steering wheel and two rear fixed units in the same axis with a brushless DC (BLDC) motor integrated in each of them. Each motor has an independent controller unit and a common electronic Arduino CPU that can plan specific speeds for each wheel as curves are being traced. Different implementations of sensors (input current/torque, steering angle and speed of the wheels) are discussed related to their hardware complexity and performance based on speed level requirements and slipping on the traction wheels. Two driving circuits were generated (slalom and circular routes) and driven at different speeds, monitoring and recording all the related parameters of the vehicle. The most representative graphs obtained are presented. The analysis of these data presents a significant change of the behaviour of the control capability of the ED when the lineal speed of the vehicle makes a change of direction that passes 10 Km/h. In this situation, to obtain good performance of the ED, it is necessary to include sensors related to the wheels.

Feedback through the steering wheel is known as the most important source of information to the driver. The so-called steering feeling, composed of self-aligning actions coming from tyres and suspension geometry all the way through mechanical linkages to the driver’s hands, provides vital communication for intuitive driving, and it is therefore utterly important for safety and for a pleasant driving experience as well. Subtle forces and vibrations, due to the interaction between the tyre contact patch and the road surface texture, also play a role, provided they are not heavily filtered or cancelled by the power steering system. Human perception is guided by experience in order to establish correlations between steering feedback and vehicle motion in terms of straight-line stability, cornering speed, tyre adhesion and available friction, vehicle balance, and so on. A front-wheel drive car is potentially a critical vehicle from this point of view, especially when the powertrain can deliver large torque figures, and even more so if a limited-slip differential (LSD) or a similar active device is present in order to improve traction capabilities. Any difference between the two wheels in terms of tractive force can result into the so-called torque steer issue, that is to say, a “pulling” sensation on the steering wheel or a shifting of the vehicle from the desired trajectory. This paper analyses the torque steer phenomenon on an all-wheel-drive, full electric sportscar where a significant portion of the torque is transferred to the front axle. The effects of suspension kinematics and the load variation at tyre contact patch level are taken into account. For evaluating the impact of steering feedback, the VI-grade® simulation software is adopted and a test campaign on the professional driving simulator available at the University of Brescia has been carried out in order to understand the impact of steering feedback on driver perception and performance.

This paper is concerned with the active robust autopilot design of a four-wheel steering vehicle against external disturbances. Firstly, the effect of four-wheel steering and independent wheel torques for lateral/directional and roll motions is modelled by a set of linear models under proper manoeuvring conditions. To enhance the dynamic performance of an automobile system, a mixed H2/H∞ synthesis with pole constraint is designed on the basis of full state feedback applying linear matrix inequality (LMI) theory. For lateral/directional and roll motions, the steering angles are actively controlled by steering wheel angles through the actuator dynamics. The wheel power and braking are also controlled by independent wheel torques. Simulation results indicate that the proposed control approach can achieve predetermined performance (or acceptable level of disturbance attenuation) and stability as well as robustness even when external disturbances are severe. The active 4WS car along with steering and wheel torque control algorithms allows greater manoeuvrability and improved stability in a wide range of uncertainty.

The vibration degree of a steering wheel has important reference significance for drivers to evaluate the ride comfort of the whole vehicle. To solve the jitter problem of the steering wheel of a commercial vehicle at idle speed, this work proposes a multinode joint vibration control strategy (MDVC) based on the associated vibration path of the steering wheel. Based on the analysis of the associated vibration transfer paths of the steering wheel, the whole vehicle was divided into a system comprising several nodes. For the decomposed node system, taking the vibration transmission path associated with the target as the research direction, the vibration reduction design of each node system is analyzed step by step. After exploring the possible causes of abnormal vibration of the steering wheel through experimental tests, the abnormal node structure interval was determined. By further extracting the structural model of the steering system from the vehicle, the hammering method was applied to test its modal and related frequency. Furthermore, an improved structure of steering support was also designed, and its fitting degree and modal characteristics were analyzed and compared to the original scheme. The following test results show that the structure improvement greatly reduces the vibration level of the steering wheel, meets the ideal design requirements of the steering wheel vibration reduction, and provides the possibility of weighing the correlation between these hierarchical node systems in whole vehicle.

In this paper, prior to the commercialization of a developed active steering bogie, we want to analyze steering performance experimentally according to steering angle level with the aim of obtaining steering performance data to derive practical design specifications for a steering system. In other words, the maximum steering performance can be obtained by controlling the steering angle at the 100% level of the target steering angle, but it is necessary to establish the practical control range in consideration of the steering system cost increase, size increase, and consumer steering performance requirements and commercialize. The steering control test using the active steering bogie was conducted in the section of the steep curve with a radius of curvature of R300, and steering performance such as bogie angle, wheel lateral force, and derailment coefficient were analyzed according to the steering angle level. As the steering angle level increased, the bogie indicated that it was aligned with the radial steering position, and steering performance such as wheel lateral force and derailment coefficient was improved. The steering control at 100% level of the target steering angle can achieve the highest performance of 83.6% reduction in wheel lateral force, but it can be reduced to about one-half of the conventional bogie at 25% level control and about one-third at 50% level. Considering cost rise by adopting the active steering system, this result can be used as a very important design indicator to compromise steering performance and cost rise issues in the design stage of the steering system from a viewpoint of commercialization. Therefore, it is expected that the results of the steering performance experiment according to the steering angle level in this paper will be used as very useful data for commercialization.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to design a single-purpose machine for machining steering wheel lever from PUR. The problem with the current state was the need of manpower for machine a large number of levers. The automated machining process eliminates the problem. The result of the work is a detailed 3D model of a single-purpose machine created in the Onshape program, drawing documentation of several parts of the equipment, economic evaluation and risk analysis of the machine. The conclusion of the thesis contains an evaluation of the whole project.

The interior of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) differs from passenger cars. Both the steering wheel and the occupant are positioned differently in a HGV and increases the risk of steering wheel rim impacts. Such impact scenarios are relatively unexplored compared to passenger car safety studies that are more prevalent within the field of injury biomechanics. The idea with using human body models (HBMs) is to complement current crash test dummies with biomechanical data. Furthermore, the biofidelity of a crash dummy for loading similar to a steering wheel rimimpact is relatively unstudied and especially to different rib levels. Therefore, the aim with this thesis was to evaluate HGV occupant thoracic response between THUMS v4.0 and Hybrid III (H3) during steering wheel rim impacts with respect to different rib levels (level 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 7-8, 9-10) with regards to ribs, aorta, liver, and spleen. To the author’s best knowledge, use of local injury risk functions for thoracic injuries is fairly rare compared to the predominant usage of global injury criteria that mainly predicts the most commonthoracic injury risk, i.e. rib fractures. Therefore, local injury criteria using experimental test datahave been developed for the ribs and the organs. The measured parameters were chest deflectionand steering wheel to thorax contact force on a global level, whilst 1st principal Green-Lagrangestrains was assessed for the rib and the organ injury risk. The material models for the liver and the spleen were remodelled using an Ogden material model based on experimental stress-strain data to account for hyperelasticity. Rate-dependency was included by iteration of viscoelastic parameters. The contact modelling of the organs was changed from a sliding contact to a tied contact to minimize unrealistic contact separations during impact. The results support previous findings that H3 needs additional instrumentation to accurately register chest deflection for rib levels beyond its current range, namely at ribs 1-2, 7-8, and 9-10. For THUMS, the chest deflection were within reasonable values for the applied velocities, but there were no definite injury risk. Fact is, the global injury criteria might overpredict the AIS3 injury risk (rib fractures) for rib level 1-2, 7-8, and 9-10. The rib strains could not be correlated with the measured chest deflections. This was explained by the unique localized loading characterized by pure steering wheel rim impact that mainly affected the sternum and the rib cartilage while minimizing rib deformation. The organ strains indicate some risk of rupture where the spleen deforms the most at rib levels 3-4 and 6-7, and the liver and the aorta at rib levels 6-7 and 7-8. This study provides a framework for complementing H3 with THUMS for HGV occupant safety with emphasis on the importance of using local injury criteria for functional injury prediction, i.e. prediction of injury risk using parameters directly related to rib fracture or organ rupture. Local injury criteria are thus a powerful safety assessment tool as it is independent on exterior loading such as airbag, steering wheel hub, or seat belt loading. It was noticed that global injury criteria with very localized impacts such as rim impacts have not been studied and will affect rib fracture risk differently than what has been studied using airbag or seat belt restraints. However, improvements are needed to accurately predict thoracic injury risk at a material level by finding more data for the local injury risk functions. Conclusively, it is clear that Hybrid III has insufficient instrumentation and is in need of upgrades to register chest deflections at multiple rib levels. Furthermore, the following are needed: better understanding of global injury criteria specific for HGV occupant safety evaluation, more data for age-dependent (ribs) and rate-dependent (organs) injury risk functions, a tiebreak contact with tangential sliding for better organ kinematics during impacts, and improving the biofidelity of the material models using data from tissue level experiments.
Förarmiljön i lastbilar gentemot personbilar är annorlunda, i detta kontext med avseende på främst ratt- och förarposition som ökar risken för islag med rattkransen för lastbilsförare. Sådana islag är relativt outforskat jämfört med passiv säkerhet för personbilar inom skadebiomekaniken. Tanken bakom användning av humanmodeller är att komplettera nuvarande krockdockor med biomekanisk information. Dessutom är biofideliteten hos en krockdocka vid rattislag relativt okänt, speciellt vid olika revbensnivåer. Därför är målet med detta examensarbete att undersöka thoraxresponsen hos en lastbilsförare genom att använda THUMS v4.0 och Hybrid III (H3) under rattislag med avseende på revbensnivåer (nivå 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 7-8, och 9-10) och revben, aorta, lever, och mjälte. Enligt författaren verkar användning av lokala riskfunktioner för thoraxskador relativt ostuderat jämfört med den övervägande användningen av globala riskfunktioner som huvudsakligen förutser den mest vanligt förekommande thoraxskadan, nämligen revbensfrakturer. Därför har lokala riskfunktioner skapats för revben och organ, baserat på experimentell data. Uppmätta parametrar var bröstinträngning och kontaktkraft mellan ratt och thorax på global nivå, medan första Green-Lagrange huvudtöjningen användes för att evaluera skaderisken för revben och organ. Materialmodeller för lever och mjälte ommodellerades baserat på experimentell spänning-töjningsdata med Ogdens materialmodell för att ta hänsyn till hyperelasticitet. Töjningshastighetsberoendet inkluderades genom att iterera fram viskoelastiska parametrar. Kontaktmodellering av organ gjordes genom att ändra från glidande kontakt till en låsande kontakt för att minimera orealistisk kontaktseparation under islagsfallen. Resultaten stödjer tidigare studier där H3 visat sig behöva ytterligare givare för att noggrannt kunna registrera bröstinträngning vid olika revbensnivåer bortom dess nuvarande räckvidd, nämligen vid revben 1-2, 7-8, och 9-10. Uppmätt bröstinträngning i THUMS var rimliga för hastighetsfallen men gav inte någon definitiv risk för skada. Faktum är att de globala riskfunktionerna kan överskatta AIS3 risken vid revben 1-2, 7-8, och 9-10. Revbenstöjningarna kunde inte korreleras med bröstinträngningarna. Detta kunde förklaras genom de unika lastfallen som karakteriseras av rena rattislag som främst påverkar sternum och revbensbrosk som i sin tur minimerar deformation av revben. Organtöjningarna indikerar på någon risk för ruptur där mjälten deformerar som mest vid revben 3-4 och 6-7, medan för både levern och aortan sker det vid revben 6-7 och 7-8. Denna studie presenterar ett sätt att komplettera H3 med THUMS inom passiv säkerhet för lastbilsförare med fokus på lokala riskfunktioner för funktionell skadeprediktering dvs. prediktering av skaderisken med hjälp av parametrar som är direkt relaterat till revbensfraktur eller organruptur. Lokala riskfunktioner utgör en kraftfull säkerhetsbedömning som är oberoende av externa lastfall som t.ex. airbag, rattcentrum, eller bälteslast. I denna studie noterades det att de globala riskkriterierna inte har undersökts med väldigt lokala islag som rattislagen utgör och kommer därför att påverka risken för revbensfraktur annorlunda gentemot vad som har studerat, t.ex. airbag eller bältelast. Däremot behövs det mer data för de lokala riskkriterierna för att kunna prediktera thoraxskaderisken med ökad noggrannhet. Avslutningsvis, det är tydligt att Hybrid III har otillräckligt med givare och behöver förbättras för att kunna registrera bröstinträngning vid flera revbensnivåer. Vidare behövs följande: bättre förståelse för globala riskfunktioner anpassat inom passiv säkerhet för lastbilsförare, mer data för åldersberoende (revben) och töjningshastighetsberoende (organ) riskfunktioner, en ”tiebreak” kontakt med tangientiell glidning för bättre organkinematik, och ökad biofidelitet av materialmodeller genom att använda data från vävnadsexperiment.

So far we have been talking about real-time interactive display and manipulation of human figures, with the goal of enabling human factors engineers to augment their analyses of designed environments by having human figures carry out tasks intended for those environments. This chapter explores the use of task-level specifications as an alternative to direct manipulation for generating task simulations. By now, the reader should be convinced of the value of being able to simulate, observe and evaluate agents carrying out tasks. The question is what is added by being able to produce such simulations from high-level task specifications. The answer is efficient use of the designer’s expertise and time. A designer views tasks primarily in terms of what needs to be accomplished, not in terms of moving objects or the agent’s articulators in ways that will eventually produce an instance of that behavior – e.g., in terms of slowing down and making a left turn rather than in terms of attaching the agent’s right hand to the clutch, moving the clutch forward, reattaching the agent’s right hand to the steering wheel, then rotating the wheel to the left and then back an equal distance to the right. As was the case in moving programming from machinecode to high-level programming languages, it can be more efficient to leave it to some computer system to convert a designer’s high-level goal-oriented view of a task into the agent behavior needed to accomplish it. Moreover, if that same computer system is flexible enough to produce agent behavior that is appropriate to the agent’s size and strength and to the particulars of any given environment that the designer wants to test out, then the designer is freed from all other concerns than those of imagining and specifying the environments and agent characteristics that should be tested. This chapter then will describe a progression of recent collaborative efforts between the University of Pennsylvania’s Computer Graphics Research Lab and the LING Lab (Language, INformation and Computation) to move towards true high-level task specifications embodying the communicative richness and efficiency of Natural Language instructions.

Aimed at the drawbacks of traditional method of spot evaluation for tractor cabs, such as low effectiveness and high expense, this paper established a new method of tractor cab design and evaluation, which included formulating ergonomic evaluation process, creating virtual models of tractor cab and operators, building virtual environment of tractor cab man-machine system and conducting ergonomic evaluation. The YTO-1604 wheeled tractor has been taken as the analysis object, the layouts of its seat, accelerator pedal, clutch pedal, brake pedal, gear shift lever, steering wheel and other major parts were optimized. The optimized model was created by UG, then it was imported into JACK, thus the object for analysis was created. To accommodate the Chinese tractor operator population, the 95th, 50th and 5th percentile virtual operator models which respectively stands for the big figure, medium figure and small figure of Chinese adult males for ergonomic evaluation were created in JACK, and the angular comfort range for human body joints were determined. The 50th percentile operator was adjusted to a cozy posture through human control module, with hands holding steering wheel, left foot naturally put on clutch pedal, while right foot flat placed on the floor. The operator was located to the h point of seat in the optimized cab model, thus the man-machine virtual environment was completely built. Then the reach zone of the 5th percentile operator and the visual field of the 95th percentile operator were generated, the 95th percentile operator’s comfort was evaluated and the forces of the 95th percentile operator’s spinal L4/L5 were calculated. The results showed that the gear shift lever, steering wheel and control panel were located in the accessible reach zones, conforming to manipulation requirements. Control panel and windshield (except for part of the side windshield which could be observed by moving head) were contained in the visual field, according with vision design standard. The overall comfort score of the 95th percentile operator’s different body parts was 24.5, which indicated that the operator was in good condition and the design conformed to physiological requirements. The lower back compression force of the 95th percentile operator was 742, representing a nominal risk of lower back injury for operators. Thus, the rationality of cab layout scheme was well verified. This paper provides a method for the ergonomic design and evaluation of tractor cabs.

A semi-physical model of an hydraulic power steering system is presented in this paper. The proposed model allows to evaluate the wheels dynamic response to steering inputs and to calculate the corresponding reaction torque on the steering-wheel (steering torque). The analyzed steering system increases its stiffness (so that the steering assist level is decreases) with the rise of the vehicle speed. Thus, vehicle maneuverability is improved during parking maneuvers, while at high vehicle speeds, stability and driver perceived steering feel are ensured. A two d.o.f. (steering-wheel and rack-pinion rotations) model has been implemented during this study. The model parameters have been identified through the standard laboratory tests carried out to characterize a steering system, minimizing the difference between the experimental data and the model numerical results. During laboratory tests the hydraulic power system has been characterized first, measuring its stiffness variation as a function of the relative rotation between the steering-wheel and the rack-pinion, and the steering torque as a function of the difference between the delivery and the reversal pressure of the double-acting ram. The complete steering system has been then characterized, suspending the vehicle and placing the wheels on appropriate low-friction plates which permit them to turn; sine and frequency sweep steering input have been applied by a robot and the corresponding reaction torque on the steering-wheel has been measured. Simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental ones for all the performed tests. The steering system model has been integrated into a 14 d.o.f. vehicle model developed by the Mechanical Department of the Politecnico di Milano in order to access its reliability during handling maneuvers. Several simulations have been performed both in open (step-steer, steering pad, etc.) and in closed loop (lane change, double lane change, slalom, etc). Simulation results have shown a reduction of the toe angle due to the deformability of the steering system and a time delay of the wheel angle respect to the cinematic condition introduced by the steering system dynamics. The reaction torque on the steering-wheel has also been calculated during the simulations to access the driver perceived steering feel during the maneuvers.

The ability to drive a car is an important skill for individuals with a spinal cord injury to maintain a high quality of life, particularly their freedom and independence. However, driving with a physical disability often requires the installation of an adaptive driving system to control steering, gas, and braking. The two main types of adaptive driving controls are mechanical and electrical, also known as drive by wire (DBW). DBW controls work by converting electric signals to mechanical actuators. Driving simulators are useful tools for adaptive driving systems because they allow users to test different control devices, to practice driving without the dangers of being on the road, and can be used as a safe way to evaluate disabled drivers. This study focused on the development of a dynamic driving simulator using DBW controls because most studies focus on mechanical controls and not DBW controls and often use static simulators. The simulator was developed using the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) virtual reality system. The CAREN system (Motek Medical, Amsterdam, Netherlands) includes a six degree of freedom motion base, an optical motion capture system, a sound system, and a 180-degree projection screen. The two DBW controls, a lever device to control the gas and brake and a small wheel device to control steering, sent an electric signal to a Phidget board, which interfaced with the CAREN system. Several different driving scenarios were created and imported into CAREN’s D-Flow software. A program was developed in D-Flow to control the scene and motion of the platform appropriately based on the DBW controls via the Phidget. The CAREN system dynamically controlled the motion platform based on the user’s input. For example, if the user applied the brake suddenly, the user felt a deceleration from the motion platform moving backwards. The driving simulator showed the capability to provide dynamic feedback and, therefore, may be more realistic and beneficial than current static adaptive driving simulators. The dynamic adaptive driving simulator developed may improve driving training and performance of persons with spinal cord injuries. Future work will include testing the system with and without the dynamics from the moving platform to see how this type of feedback affects the user’s driving ability in the virtual environment.

This paper presents an integrated fault-tolerant adaptive control allocation strategy for four wheel frive - four wheel steering ground vehicles to increase yaw stability. Conventionally, control of brakes, motors and steering angles are handled separately. In this study, these actuators are controlled simultaneously using an adaptive control allocation strategy. The overall structure consists of two steps: At the first level, virtual control input consisting of the desired traction force, the desired moment correction and the required lateral force correction to maintain driver’s intention are calculated based on the driver’s steering and throttle input and vehicle’s side slip angle. Then, the allocation module determines the traction forces at each wheel, front steering angle correction and rear steering wheel angle, based on the virtual control input. Proposed strategy is validated using a non-linear three degree of freedom reduced two-track vehicle model and results demonstrate that the vehicle can successfully follow the reference motion while protecting yaw stability, even in the cases of device failure and changed road conditions.

Abstract In this paper, a hierarchical optimal four-wheel steering (4WS) controller is proposed to enhance the energy saving for vehicle lateral motions. By the integration of the four-wheel vehicle dynamics, wheel dynamics, and tire model, the vehicle propulsion power consumption is derived with respect to the front and rear wheel steering angles as control inputs. In the high level of the proposed controller, an autonomous path following control is developed to provide virtual control inputs including the lateral forces and yaw moment via the dynamic sliding mode control design. In the low level, the high-level virtual control inputs are distributed to the front and rear steering angles, in which the energy optimization problem is solved. The objective function of the optimization problem aims to minimize the vehicle propulsion power consumption and virtual control tracking error. Furthermore, the requirements of the vehicle stability and the path following accuracy are considered in the constraints. Verified by CarSim® and MATLAB/Simulink® co-simulation, the proposed 4WS hierarchical energy optimization controller can successfully reduce the power loss for vehicle lateral motions.

This paper presents a mathematical model for multi-axle steering vehicles operating on level ground. For transporting heavy loads vehicles with multiple axles are required. Apart from added complexity steering of multiple axle for turning is a big challenge. Due to type of load being carried a single unit vehicle is sometimes preferred. The mathematical model of a six axle vehicle with 4-axle steering system is developed. Simulations at various track radii, vehicle speeds and steering ratios (ratio between the first, second, fifth and sixth steering axle) are performed. Axle steering angles and wheel slip angles are evaluated. The steering ratio requirements vary with vehicle speed and turn radius. A configuration is selected for better performance for a wider range. The resulting steering ratios show good vehicle maneuverability, stability and steering efficiency.

Abstract A variety of off-highway vehicles are subject to significant steering wheel vibrations during operation. Typical examples of such machines are vibratory asphalt and soil compactors. Large compacting forces, while essential for the proper compacting operation, will inevitably cause undesired effects such as severe vibrations of steering wheels. Traditional vibration control measures are often found either impractical or less effective in reducing the level of hand vibrations which is considered an important quality and safety issue in compacter design and sales. In this paper, an advanced concept of reducing hand vibrations is presented in the context of Multi-degree-of-freedom Tuned Dynamic Absorbers (MTDA). The MTDA essentially represents an assembly of simple dynamic absorbers individually tuned to different targeted vibration modes in different degree of freedoms. While the design concept and associated parameters are numerically determined by FEA, the prototype is fine tuned to the desired vibration modes through a bench test. The effectiveness of the MTDA is experimentally verified in-situ through a sequence of tests which are carefully designed to adequately reflect its performance under field conditions.

Abstract Unlike an autonomous driving system, a shared control system keeps the driver in the loop to exploit human’s decision-making, path-planning, and control skills in vehicle motion control. In the meantime, a shared control system consistently provides support to the driver in hazardous situations. Typical shared control systems concentrate on altering vehicle steering actions through either active front steering or haptic steering torque. However, an active front steering system requires costly hardware and a haptic steering torque explicitly interferences with the driver hand-wheel steering. To overcome the drawbacks of the steering-based strategies, this paper introduces a driver support system based on direct yaw moment control for highspeed collision avoidance maneuvers. The new system maintains a hierarchical structure with a high-level lateral velocity planner and a low-level lateral velocity governor. In addition, the personally-preferred collision avoidance trajectories of each driver are taken into account to make the controller personalizable. Carsim-Simulink joint simulations demonstrate that this novel shared control system can successfully assist the driver in high-speed collision avoidance maneuvers. Moreover, both physical and mental loads of the driver are substantially reduced in contrast to using an active front steering system.

This paper presents the sensitivity analyses on vehicle motions with regard to faults of in-wheel motors and steering motor for an electric ground vehicle (EGV) with independently actuated in-wheel rear motors. Based on the vehicle model, direct method is applied to determine, to what extent, that different actuator faults affect vehicle motions such as the longitudinal velocity, lateral velocity, and yaw rate. For motion indices like vehicle sideslip angle and longitudinal acceleration, linearizations around equilibrium points are conducted and their sensitivities to actuator faults are analyzed. Results show that all mentioned vehicle motions are more sensitive to the fault of steering motor than that of in-wheel motors. In addition, the effects on vehicle motions due to four types of faults, i.e. additive, loss-of-effectiveness, time-varying-gain and stuck-at-fixed-level faults, are examined through CarSim® simulations and vehicle experiments under a representative maneuver.