New Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control System Based on the Coordination of Active Front Steering, Direct Yaw Control, and Electric Differential for Improvements in Vehicle Handling and Stability

An integrated vehicle dynamics control system aiming to improve vehicle handling and stability by coordinating active front steering (AFS), direct yaw control (DYC), and electric differential system is developed in this article. First, an electric differential system for electric vehicle, composed of two sets of bi-PMS, in-wheel motors connected in parallel and supplied by a single five-leg inverter, one on the front axle and one on the rear axle, is designed. However, each set is controlled by a proposed sliding mode backstepping control, which has replaced the hysteresis controllers in the conventional direct torque control (DTC), can obviously reduce the torque ripple, and provide better speed tracking performance using sliding mode speed controllers. Second, an integrated control system which coordinates AFS and DYC braking system is designed by using a stability index, based on stability domain in the phase plane portrait, and a gain scheduling parameter to improve vehicle steerability and maintain vehicle stability during extreme driving situations. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed integrated vehicle dynamics control system and the overall improvements in vehicle handling and stability.