Transversal tyre road characteristic estimation

Abstract This paper presents two methods for lateral tyre/road characteristic identification. The proposed methods are estimation based on simulation (EBS) and estimation based on observer (EBO). The first method is based on the development of a vehicle dynamics simulation whereas the second is based on a vehicle dynamics observation. In the EBS method, a vehicle simulator is used to replay certain road tests assuming that only the side force characteristic is unknown. The EBO method uses an observer to reconstruct vehicle dynamics and thus estimate tyre forces. For both methods a tyre characteristic described by a reduced Bakker—Pacjeka tyre model is used to characterize the tyre / road interface. The principle of the proposed procedures consists in the use of an iterative process based on the minimization of quadratic error in order to find the optimal tyre characteristic. To evaluate the proposed procedures, some experimental results were performed. The results are obtained off line on the basis of a set of test data. The originality of these approaches is to have a simple method and a less expensive technique for the characterization of the tyre/road interface.