Warth, G.

Frey, M.

Gauterin, F.

Vehicle System Dynamics, 

International Journal of Vehicle Mechanics and Mobility 

This paper presents the design of a central feedforward control for the two chassis control systems rear-wheel steering (RWS) and torque vectoring (TV) which have related areas of intervention in lateral dynamics. A control strategy is presented in order to follow desired target values consisting of yaw acceleration and sideslip angle velocity. Central attention is given to the use of additional tyre information with the aim of enhancing vehicle handling and stability. With the knowledge of the mounted tyre type, an adaption law for the desired target values is derived. Although the focus is based on the usage of new tyre information, this modelling approach basically has the potential to reduce the need for coordination among the two systems RWS and TV, exploiting the synergies between both of them. Starting from an extended single-track model an exact Input–output linearisation method is used to design the feedforward control. This is followed by a proof of stability for the external and the internal dynamics of the controller. For the subsequent investigation, in a preliminary step, real-world in vehicle tests are carried out under varying tyre types with a wide spreading of characteristics. This serves as a basis to identify the most important tyre parameters for the controller and to derive the target goals. Finally, the controller is implemented in a 14-DOF non-linear entire vehicle model in Matlab/Simulink, that serves for simulations with a virtual vehicle plant. The performance of the presented feedforward control is assessed by specified objective criteria for steady-state and transient open-loop manoeuvres in lateral dynamics. These criteria are used to investigate the effectiveness of the control design with the aim to achieve the defined target motion. In addition to that, the manoeuvre results also serve to evaluate the control effort, involved in the coordinated cooperation of both systems.