For Vehicle States, Parameters, and Road Conditions

The effective application of integrated vehicle dynamics control and automatic driving require consistent vehicle state variables and parameters. Considering lateral vehicle dynamics, the yaw rate and (estimated) vehicle side-slip angle are the minimum set of state variables that can give insight into the handling characteristics of a vehicle.

Various methods of vehicle side-slip angle (lateral velocity) estimation have been tested in virtual and real world applications, in particular on a horizontal dry road. Vehicle side-slip angle, however, is not only affected by the (steering) commands of the driver, and possibly by a vehicle dynamics controller, but can also arise from a banked road or result from a low-friction surface, changing tyre–road contact. The combined effects require a comprehensive estimation approach, which is less often touched upon in the literature.

Based on earlier findings on important aspects of observability, the project addresses a modular vehicle side-slip angle estimation approach that is particularly focused upon practical aspects of modelling and design. Estimation of the combined vehicle side-slip angle, road bank angle and maximum tyre–road friction coefficient has been broadly tested with a vehicle equipped with an electronic stability control (ESC) and electric power-assisted steering (EPS) sensor configuration, for various road conditions, driving situations and vehicle/tyre setups.

Figure 1: Overtaking in banked turn in Idiada, Ride on Galtispouda in North-Sweden

References

Fichtinger, Andreas, Johannes Edelmann, Manfred Plöchl, Manuel Höll, and Michael Unterreiner. "Slip slope change detection based on active drive force excitation., opens an external URL in a new window" Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering (2023): 09544070231197378.

Haudum, Martin, Johannes Edelmann, Manfred Plöchl, and Manuel Höll. "Vehicle side-slip angle estimation on a banked and low-friction road., opens an external URL in a new window" Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of automobile engineering 232, no. 12 (2018): 1584-1596.

Haudum, Martin, Johannes Edelmann, Manfred Plöchl, and Manuel Höll. "Vehicle state estimation from a sports-car application point of view focusing on handling dynamics., opens an external URL in a new window" In Advanced Vehicle Control, pp. 521-526. CRC Press, 2016.

Researchers

• Andreas Fichtinger
• Martin Haudum

Project Partner

• Porsche AG