Prototype development and testing of active yaw moment control system using vehicle momentum wheel

Abstract

Vehicle stability is the essential key to evade accidents and drive without harm. It is in actual an extremely dynamic and active research topic nowadays. Active yaw moment control to improve vehicle’s handling and stability has been chosen as the control strategy. This technique uses a momentum wheel control (MWC) independent of the tire/road interaction to generate the corrective yaw moment. A fully functional prototype of the control system on an RC model car with onboard processing capabilities is designed and developed. Vehicle dynamics analysis and the test results are discussed. Control system is designed using the Linear-Quadratic Regulator (LQR) theory, calculates the necessary torque required to apply to the vehicle chassis in order to generate the corrective yaw moment. Kalman filter is used to supress the sensors noise and any irregularities in the system model design. Motor controller board provides enough current to generate the required torque. All the calculations are done using Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) microcontroller. System dynamics are analysed on the computer using LabVIEW software.