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This study pertains to motion control algorithms using statistical calculations based on relative displacement measurements, in particular where the rattle space is strictly limited by fixed end-stops and a load leveling system that allows for roll to go undetected by the sensors. One such application is the cab suspension of semi trucks that use widely-spaced springs and dampers and a load leveling system that is placed between the suspensions, near the center line of the cab. In such systems it is possible for the suspension on the two sides of the vehicle to settle at different ride heights due to uneven loading or the crown of the road. This paper will compare the use of two moving average signals (one positive and one negative) to the use of one root mean square (RMS) signal, all calculated based on the relative displacement measurement.

This work pertains to laboratory testing of truck cab suspensions for the purpose of improving in-cab ride quality. It describes the testing procedure of a complete truck cab suspension while still being mounted on the vehicle. It allows for testing with minimal amount of resources, limited to two mobile actuators and minimal modifications to the stock vehicle. The actuators can be attached to any axle through a set of modified brake drums and excite the drive axle in a vertical plane. The excitation signal sent to the actuators can be in phase for a heave type motion or out of phase for a roll motion. The chassis shock absorbers are replaced with rigid links to prevent the actuator input from becoming filtered by the primary suspension. This allows the input to reach the cab suspension more directly and the cab to be excited across a broader range of frequencies.

Driver Assistance and Autonomous Driving features are becoming nearly ubiquitous in new vehicles. The intent of the Driver Assistant features is to assist the driver in making safer decisions. The intent of Autonomous Driving features is to execute vehicle maneuvers, without human intervention, in a safe manner. The overall goal of Driver Assistance and Autonomous Driving features is to reduce accidents, injuries, and deaths with a comforting driving experience. However, different drivers can react differently to advanced automated driving technology. It is therefore important to consider and improve the adaptability of these advances based on driver behavior. In this paper, a human-centric approach is adopted to provide an enriching driving experience. We perform data analysis of the naturalistic behavior of drivers when performing lane change maneuvers by extracting features from extensive Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) data of over 5,400,000 data files.

This paper studies the effect of different longitudinal load conditions, roundabout cross-sectional geometry, and different semi-truck pneumatic suspension systems on roll stability in roundabouts, which have become more and more popular in urban settings. Roundabouts are commonly designed in their size and form to accommodate articulated heavy vehicles (AHVs) by evaluating such affects as off-tracking. However, the effect of the roadway geometry in roundabouts on the roll dynamics of semi-tractors and trailers are equally important, along with their entry and exit configuration. , Because the effect of the roundabout on the dynamics of trucks is further removed from the immediate issues considered by roadway planner, at times they are not given as much consideration as other roadway design factors.

Wind tunnel tests were conducted on two variations of a Grumman design for a Maglev vehicle The tests employed a moving belt system simulation of an elevated track which was designed to properly simulate the flowfield for Maglev vehicle configurations of the EMS type where the vehicle undercarriage partially wraps around or encloses the track Lift and drag forces and vehicle pitching moments were measured over a wide range of Reynolds number and the results compared with computations made by Grumman The tests also included measurements of flowfield velocity and turbulence profiles downstream of the vehicles and pressure measurements over the vehicle nose The test results showed a slight difference between the two designs with a possible reason to give preference to one of the designs due to reduced pitching moment.

Conventional viscous shock absorbers, in parallel with suspension springs, passively dissipate the excitation energy from road irregularity into heat waste, to reduce the transferred vibration which causes the discomfort of passengers. Energy-harvesting shock absorbers, which have the potential of conversion of kinetic energy into electric power, have been proposed as semi-active suspension to achieve better balance between the energy consumption and suspension performance. Because of the high energy density of the rotary shock absorber, a rotational energy-harvesting shock absorber with mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) is used in this paper. This paper presents the assessment of vehicle dynamic performance with the proposed energy-harvesting shock absorber in braking process. Moreover, a PI controller is proposed to attenuate the negative effect due to the pitch motion.

This study undertakes an investigation of the effect of battery charge balance in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) on EPA fuel economy label values. EPA's updated method was fully implemented in 2011 and uses equations which weight the contributions of fuel consumption results from multiple dynamometer tests to synthesize city and highway estimates that reflect average U.S. driving patterns. For the US06 and UDDS cycles, the test results used in the computation come from individual phases within the overall certification driving cycles. This methodology causes additional complexities for hybrid vehicles, because although they are required to be charge-balanced over the course of a full drive cycle, they may have net charge or discharge within the individual phases. As a result, the fuel consumption value used in the label value calculation can be skewed.

Skyhook control has been used extensively for semiactive dampers for a variety of applications, most widely for passenger vehicle suspensions. This paper provides an experimental evaluation of how well skyhook control works for improving roll stability of a passenger vehicle. After discussing the formulation for various semiactive control methods that have been suggested in the past for vehicle suspensions, the paper includes the implementation of a semiactive system with magneto-rheological (MR) dampers on a sport utility vehicle. The vehicle is used for a series of road tests that includes lane change maneuvers, with different types of suspensions. The suspensions that are tested include the stock suspension, the uncontrolled MR dampers, skyhook control, and a new semiactive control method called “SIA skyhook.” The SIA Skyhook augments the conventional skyhook control with steering input, in order to account for the suspension requirements during a lateral maneuver.

This paper documents a simple theoretical analysis and an experimental performance comparison of the advantages of an 8-post shaker rig relative to a conventional 7-post shaker rig. A simple static model describing the chassis roll and warp characteristics is first presented to illustrate the differences between 7-post and 8-post configurations, and the conditions where an additional aeroloader provides an advantage. Using a late model NASCAR Sprint Cup car, a series of experimental tests were conducted with the 8-post shaker rig at the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (VIPER) facility in both 7-post and 8-post configurations. Experimental results confirm the hypothesis that an 8-post configuration is able to more accurately reproduce target motions of the chassis and suspension when those motions include a chassis warp condition.

A unique concept for a multi-body test rig enabling the simulation of longitudinal, steering and vertical dynamics was developed at the Institute for Mechatronic Systems (IMS) at TU Darmstadt. A prototype of this IMS test rig is currently being built. In conjunction with the IMS test rig, the Vehicle Terrain Performance Laboratory (VTPL) at Virginia Tech further developed a full car, seven degree of freedom (7 DOF) simulation model capable of accurately reproducing measured displacement, pitch, and roll of the vehicle body due to terrain excitation. The results of the 7 DOF car model were used as the reference input to the multi-body IMS test rig model. The goal of the IMS/VTPL joint effort was to determine whether or not a controller for the IMS test rig vertical actuator could accurately reproduce wheel displacements due to different measured terrain constraints.

In an age of growing complexity with regards to vehicle control systems, verification and validation of control algorithms is a rigorous and time consuming process. With the help of rapid control prototyping techniques, designers and developers have cost effective ways of validating controls under a quicker time frame. These techniques involve developments of plant models that replicate the systems that a control algorithm will interface with. These developments help to reduce costs associated with construction of prototypes. In standard design cycles, iterations were needed on prototypes in order to finalize systems. These iterations could result in code changes, new interfacing, and reconstruction, among other issues. The time and resources required to complete these were far beyond desired. With the help of simulated interfaces, many of these issues can be recognized prior to physical integration.

This paper presents the results of a study on the effect of truck configurations on the roll stability of commercial trucks in roundabouts that are commonly used in urban settings with increasing frequency. The special geometric layout of roundabouts can increase the risk of rollover in high-CG vehicles, even at low speeds. Relatively few in-depth studies have been conducted on rollover stability of commercial trucks in roundabouts. This study uses a commercially available software, TruckSim®, to perform simulations on four truck configurations, including a single-unit truck, a WB-67 semi-truck, the combination of a tractor with double 28-ft trailers, and the combination of a tractor with double 40-ft trailers. A single-lane and multilane roundabout are modeled, both with a truck apron. Three travel movements through the roundabouts are considered, including right turn, through-movement, and left turn.

The availability of active safety systems, such as Lane Departure Warning (LDW), has recently been added as a rating factor in the U.S. New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The objective of this study is to determine the relevance of the NCAP LDW confirmation test to real-world road departure crashes. This study is based on data collected as part of supplemental crash reconstructions performed on 890 road departure collisions from the National Automotive Sampling System, Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS). Scene diagrams and photographs were examined to determine the lane departure and lane marking characteristics not available in the original data. The results suggest that the LDW confirmation test captures many of the conditions observed in real-world road departures. For example, 40% of all single vehicle collisions in the dataset involved a drift-out-of-lane type of departures represented by the test.

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) systems are two active safety systems that have recently been added to the U.S. New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) evaluation. Vehicles that pass confirmation tests may advertise the presence of FCW and LDW alongside the vehicle's star safety rating derived from crash tests. This paper predicts the number of crashes and injured drivers that could be prevented if all vehicles in the U.S. fleet were equipped with production FCW and/or LDW systems. Models of each system were developed using the test track data collected for 16 FCW and 10 LDW systems by the NCAP confirmation tests. These models were used in existing fleetwide benefits models developed for FCW and LDW. The 16 FCW systems evaluated could have potentially prevented between 9% and 53% of all rear-end collisions and prevented between 19% and 60% of injured (MAIS2+) drivers. Earlier warning times prevented more warnings and injuries.

Vehicle stability is maintained by proper interactions between the driver and vehicle stability control system. While driver describes the desired target path by commanding steering angle and acceleration/deceleration rates, vehicle stability controller tends to stabilize higher dynamics of the vehicle by correcting longitudinal, lateral, and roll accelerations. In this paper, a finite-horizon optimal solution to vehicle stability control is introduced in the presence of driver's dynamical decision making structure. The proposed concept is inspired by Nash strategy for exactly known systems with more than two players, in which driver, commanding steering wheel angle, and vehicle stability controller, applying compensated yaw moment through differential braking strategy, are defined as the dynamic players of the 2-player differential linear quadratic game.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech is participating in the 2011-2014 EcoCAR 2 competition in which the team is tasked with re-engineering the powertrain of a GM donated vehicle. The primary goals of the competition are to reduce well to wheels (WTW) petroleum energy use (PEU) and reduce WTW greenhouse gas (GHG) and criteria emissions while maintaining performance, safety, and consumer acceptability. To meet these goals HEVT has designed a series parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with multiple modes of operation. This paper will first cover development of the control system architecture with a dual CAN bus structure to meet the requirements of the vehicle architecture. Next an online optimization control strategy to minimize fuel consumption will be developed. A simple vehicle plant model will then be used for software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing to improve fuel economy.

Dynamic game theory brings together different features that are keys to many situations in control design: optimization behavior, the presence of multiple agents/players, enduring consequences of decisions and robustness with respect to variability in the environment, etc. In the presented methodology, vehicle stability is represented by a cooperative dynamic/difference game such that its two agents (players), namely, the driver and the direct yaw controller (DYC), are working together to provide more stability to the vehicle system. While the driver provides the steering wheel control, the DYC control algorithm is obtained by the Nash game theory to ensure optimal performance as well as robustness to disturbances. The common two-degree of freedom (DOF) vehicle handling performance model is put into discrete form to develop the game equations of motion.

A detailed study of the effects of shim stack assemblies on performance of hydraulic mono-tube vehicle shock absorbers is presented. Currently, shim stacks are modeled as blow-off valves in hydraulic models of shock absorbers. Using this simplification, important material and geometrical properties of shim stacks cannot be studied and their effects cannot be understood on overall damper performance. In this paper, shim stack deflection is investigated and a mathematical model is presented for shim stack deflection. This model is then incorporated into the mathematical model of a hydraulic damper and various properties of shim stack and their effects on damper characteristics are studied. Energy and variational methods were used to develop the mathematical model of the shim stack. The mathematical model also takes into account the sliding effects of the shims on each other when the shim stack is deflected.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), especially in the field of rotary machinery diagnosis, plays a crucial role in determining the defect category as well as its intensity in a machine element. This paper proposes a new framework for real-time classification of structural defects in a roller bearing test rig using time domain-based classification algorithms. Along with the bearing defects, the effect of eccentric shaft loading has also been analyzed. The entire system comprises of three modules: sensor module – using accelerometers for data collection, data processing module – using time-domain based signal processing algorithms for feature extraction, and classification module – comprising of deep learning algorithms for classifying between different structural defects occurring within the inner and outer race of the bearing.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) is participating in the 2009 - 2011 EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition series organized by Argonne National Lab (ANL), and sponsored by General Motors Corporation (GM), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Following GM's Vehicle Development Process (VDP), HEVT established team goals that meet or exceed the competition requirements for EcoCAR in the design of a plug-in extended range hybrid electric vehicle. The competition requires participating teams to re-engineer a stock crossover utility vehicle donated by GM. The result of this design process is an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) that uses grid electric energy and E85 fuel for propulsion. The vehicle design has achieved an SAE J1711 utility factor corrected fuel consumption of 2.9 L(ge)/100 km (82 mpgge) with an all-electric range of 87 km (54 miles) [1].