Angular Momentum Control for Preventing Rollover of a Heavy Vehicle

Abstract

In this article, gyroscopes and flywheels are used to prevent the rollover of a vehicle due to external forces. The rollover preventing performance of the flywheels for a heavy trailer (an inverted pendulum problem) is investigated at a high road bank angle risk. Two control moment gyroscopes (CMG) and a reaction wheel are controlled by proportional torques to keep the vehicle in a stable motion in the vertical position. The reaction wheel was used only to eliminate the dissipation energy of damper. By using the energy stored in the flywheels of gyroscopes, the sprung mass of a vehicle can make a stable oscillating motion of small amplitude, standing upright without tipping over. The optimum flywheel speed was derived from the frequency equations with the appropriate controller gain. Most importantly, the required angular momentum to keep the vehicle upright without tipping over depends on the amplitude of the gimbal oscillation and the frequency. It has also been observed that Matlab simulations of Lagrangian equations and simulations modeled in RecurDyn software are in perfect harmony.