An energy efficient intelligent torque vectoring approach based on fuzzy logic controller and neural network tire forces estimator

In electric vehicles (EVs) with multiple motors, torque vectoring (TV) control can effectively enhance the cornering response and safety. Moreover, TV systems can also improve the overall efficiency through an optimal torque distribution that also considers the power consumption. For such a complex control system with multiple objectives, intelligent control techniques have demonstrated to be one of the best alternatives. However, the works proposed in the literature do not handle both vehicle dynamics behaviour and energy efficiency, and generally do not consider the real-time implementability of the developed controllers. To overcome the aforementioned issues, in this work, a novel torque vectoring approach is proposed, which uses a neural network-based vertical tire forces estimator and considers the regenerative braking capabilities of EVs. Moreover, the implementability of the controller in a hetereogenous (FPGA and microcontroller) automotive suitable system on chip is addressed, ensuring its real-time capabilities. For the sake of validating the proposed approach, a set of experiments have been carried out in a hardware in the loop setup. The performance of the proposed TV approach has been compared with other two TV approaches from the literature, evaluating them in several challenging manoeuvres in high and low tire-road friction coefficient scenarios. Results show that the proposed approach not only is able to enhance the vehicle dynamics behaviour but also to decrease the energy consumption about 13%.