Vehicle Dynamics Control by Using an Active Gyroscopic Device

Abstract

In this research, a gyroscopic device has been introduced for the purpose of vehicle handling enhancement. An optimal linear quadratic regulator controller (LQR) is designed based on the gyroscope–vehicle simple linear equations. This controller by using a gyroscope system is shown to enable the vehicle to follow the desired input. The desired vehicle dynamic motion is assumed in the form of the steady motion of the bicycle model. The desired motion for the gyroscope is a condition in which the gyroscope frame angular velocity is zero. A ten degrees-of-freedom (DOF) full vehicle model, consisting of 9DOF for the nonlinear vehicle model including the Magic Formula tire model and a nonlinear 1DOF gyroscope model, is used for the simulation purposes. In various maneuvers, the performance of the gyroscopic system with that of the conventional direct yaw moment control (DYC) system performance is compared. Simulation results show that on dry and slippery roads, the performances of gyroscope system and DYC are both desirable. On a μ-split road condition, DYC fails and is not effective whereas the gyroscope system has a very good performance.