Stability control of 4WS vehicles using robust IMC techniques

A robust nonparametric approach to vehicle stability control by means of a four-wheel steer by wire system is introduced. Both yaw rate and sideslip angle feedbacks are used in order to effectively take into account safety as well as handling performances. Reference courses for yaw rate and sideslip angle are computed on the basis of the vehicle speed and the handwheel angle imposed by the driver. An output multiplicative model set is used to describe the uncertainty arising from a wide range of vehicle operating situations. The effects of saturation of the control variables (i.e. front and rear steering angles) are taken into account by adopting enhanced internal model control methodologies in the design of the feedback controller. Actuator dynamics are considered in the controller design. Improvements on understeer characteristics, stability in demanding conditions such as turning on low friction surfaces, damping properties in impulsive manoeuvres, and improved handling in closed loop (i.e. with driver feedback) manoeuvres are shown through extensive simulation results performed on an accurate 14 degrees of freedom nonlinear model, which proved to give good modelling results as compared with collected experimental data.