Enhancement handling performance of 4-wheels drive electrical vehicle using advanced control technique

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining attention because they are environmentally friendly. Also, EVs can use in-hub motors, which can be independently controlled, improving maneuverability and allowing to set more ambitious control goals. In this paper, the lateral motion of an EV is controlled using the direct yaw control (DYC) method. The proposed controller uses the yaw moment produced by the longitudinal forces of the tires to stabilize the vehicle motion during critical cornering conditions to improve vehicle handling characteristics. The designed controllers, based on a linear model of the vehicle compute the optimal coupled traction/braking torque of the four in-wheel motors. By using unequal torque distribution, a restoring yaw moment can be generated in order to improve vehicle stability. Two controllers (PID and MPC) were designed to generate the moment required to achieve vehicle stability . The MPC outperforms PID regarding reduction of side slip angle and yaw rate.