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In this study, we focus on “camber angle control” and “derivative steering assistance” using “steer-by-wire” as maneuverability and stability improvement techniques that are appropriate for the electric vehicle (EV) era. Movements that produce a negative camber angle generate camber thrust, and vehicle motion performance improvements extend from the fact that the tire side force is increased by the camber thrust effect. In our experimental vehicle, a proportional steering angle system was used to create negative camber angle control via an electromagnetic actuator that allowed us to confirm improvements to both the effectiveness and stability of steering control in restricted cornering areas. More specifically, we determined that it is possible to improve critical cornering performance by executing ground negative camber angle control in proportion to the steering angle.

In this study, we report on the development of a steering assistance control system that feeds back information on the outside environment collected by laser sensors to the vehicle driver. The system consists of an emergency avoidance assistance control program that performs obstacle detection and avoidance, as well as a cornering assistance control program that operates by detecting the white lines painted on roadways. Driving simulator experiments were conducted in order to confirm the effectiveness of these functions, as well as to improve understanding of the synergistic effects of the steering assistance and chassis control functions: camber angle control and derivative steering assistance (DSA) control.

It has been reported that steering systems with derivative terms have a heightened lateral acceleration and yaw rate response in the normal driving range. However, in ranges where the lateral acceleration is high, the cornering force of the front wheels decreases and hence becomes less effective. Therefore, we applied traction control for the inner and outer wheels based on the steering angle velocity to improve the steering effectiveness at high lateral accelerations. An experiment using a driving simulator showed that the vehicle's yaw rate response improved for a double lane change to avoid a hazard; this improves hazard avoidance performance. Regarding improved vehicle control in the cornering margins, traction control for the inner and outer wheels is being developed further, and much research and development has been reported. However, in the total skid margin, where few margin remains in the forward and reverse drive forces on the tires, spinout is unavoidable.

The relation of the front wheel steering angle to the steering wheel angle in electric vehicles is changing due to the “steer-by-wire” method, which is based on an electric signal. With this method, excellent maneuverability is possible in various driving situations. Therefore, this steer control method technique is considered in this study. It was clarified that steer-bywire requires an improvement in the control stability in emergency maneuvers and the delay of counter steering in drift cornering without causing a sense of driver incompatibility. (Here, the sense of incompatibility was defined as feeling by which the harmony between the steer intention of the driver and the vehicle movement was lost.) (Here, the drift cornering shows cornering done in the area with counter steering where the rear wheel exceeded the maximum cornering force.) One control stability method is Proportional Derivative (PD) steering assistance, which is dependent on the anticipated driving situations.