Braking Control Systems Design: Actuators with Continuous Dynamics

This chapter addresses the problem of braking control design based on actuators with continuous dynamics (see Section 1.3 for their dynamic description).

Of course, the actuator performance forces the engineer to design the braking control system accordingly. Here, for the case of an actuator with continuous dynamics we show how to design a wheel slip controller that can guarantee closed-loop stability and acceptable performance in all possible working conditions by solving a regulation problem. It will be also clear that, because the braking controller is a safety-oriented aid for the driver, it must be switched on and off according to the current manoeuvre. Thus, an appropriate activation and deactivation logic must be designed to accomplish this task.

Further, we investigate the wheel slip control problem starting from a double-corner model,

i.e.

, taking into account the load transfer phenomena. The analysis highlights the effects of dynamic coupling between front and rear axles and its impact on ABS systems design. This leads to the selection of an alternative controlled variable for the braking control of the rear wheel, which arises from the idea of interlocking the rear wheels with the front wheels to achieve a more favorable dynamic behaviour while maintaining a SISO approach to wheel slip control design.