MEE 503 - Unit V

Prof Abraham Sudharson Ponraj

Asst Prof SENSE
VIT Chennai

Vehicle Motion Control

The term vehicle motion refers to its

translation along and rotation about all

three axes (i.e., longitudinal, lateral, and
vertical).

Vehicle Motion Control

Rotations of the vehicle around these three

axes correspond to angular displacement of

the car body in roll, yaw, and pitch.
Roll refers to angular displacement about
the longitudinal axis.
Yaw refers to angular displacement about
the vertical axis.
Pitch refers to angular displacement about
the lateral axis.

Vehicle Motion Control

Electronic

controls have been recently

developed with the capability to regulate
the motion along and about all three axes.
Individual car models employ various
selected combinations of these controls.

TYPICAL CRUISE CONTROL

SYSTEM
Automotive cruise control is an excellent

example of the type of electronic feedback

control system.
The components of a control system
include the plant, or system being
controlled, and a sensor for measuring the
plant variable being regulated.
It also includes an electronic control system
that receives inputs in the form of the
desired value of the regulate variable and
the measured value of that variable from
the sensor.

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

The

control system generates an error

signal constituting the difference between
the desired and actual values of this
variable.
It then generates an output from this error
signal that drives an electromechanical
actuator.
The actuator controls the input to the plant
in such a way that the regulated plant
variable is moved toward the desired value.

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

In the case of a cruise control, the variable

being regulated is the vehicle speed.

The driver manually sets the car speed at the
desired value via the accelerator pedal.
Upon reaching the desired speed the driver
activates a momentary contact switch that
sets that speed as the command input to the
control system.
From that point on, the cruise control system
maintains the desired speed automatically by
operating the throttle via a throttle actuator.

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

The PI controller is representative of good

design for such a control system since it

can
reduce
speed
errors
due
to
disturbances (such as hills) to zero.
In this strategy an error e is formed by
subtracting (electronically) the actual
speed Va from the desired speed Vd.

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

The controller then electronically generates

the actuator signal by combining a term

proportional to the error (KPe) and a term
proportional to the integral of the error:

The actuator signal u is a combination of

these two terms:

The throttle opening is proportional to the

value of this actuator signal.

Cruise Control Block Diagram

Cruise Control Speed

Performance

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

The

response characteristics of a PI
controller depend strongly on the choice of
the gain parameters KP and KI.
It is possible to select values for these
parameters to increase the speed of the
system response to disturbance.
If the speed increases too rapidly, however,
overshoot will occur and the actual speed
will oscillate around the desired speed.

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

The amplitude of oscillations decreases by

an amount determined by a parameter

called the damping ratio.
The damping ratio that produces the
fastest response without overshoot is called
critical damping.
A damping ratio less than critically damped
is said to be underdamped.
One greater than critically damped is said
to be overdamped.

Digital Cruise Control

Cruise control is now mostly implemented

digitally using a microprocessor-based

computer.
For such a system, proportional and
integral
control
computations
are
performed numerically in the computer.
The vehicle speed sensor is digital.
When the car reaches the desired speed,
Sd, the driver activates the speed set
switch.
At this time, the output of the vehicle
speed sensor is transferred to a storage

Digital Cruise Control

The

computer continuously reads the

actual vehicle speed, Sa, and generates an
error, en, at the sample time, tn (n is an
integer).

A control signal, d, is computed that has

the following form:

Digital Cruise Control

This control signal is actually the duty cycle

of a square wave (Vc) that is applied to the

throttle actuator (as explained later).
The throttle opening increases or decreases
as d increases or decreases due to the
action of the throttle actuator.

Digital Cruise Control

Collision Avoidance Radar

Warning System
An on-board low-power radar system

can be used as a sensor for an electronic

collision avoidance system to provide
warning of a potential collision with an
object lying in the path of the vehicle.
As early as 1976, at least one experimental
system
was
developed
that
could
accurately detect objects up to distances of
about 100 yards.
This system gave very few false alarms in
actual highway tests.

Collision Avoidance Radar

Warning System

Collision Avoidance Radar

Warning System
For an anti-collision warning application,

the radar antenna should be mounted on

the front of the car and should project a
relatively narrow beam forward.
Ideally, the antenna for such a system
should be in as flat a package as possible.
Should project a beam that has a width of
about 2 to 3 horizontally and about 4 to
5 vertically.

False Alarm
Large objects such as signs can reflect the

radar beam, particularly on curves, and

trigger a false alarm.
If the beam is scanned horizontally for a
few degrees, say 2.5 either side of center,
false alarms from roadside objects can be
reduced.

Same Lane in Curve?

In order to test whether a detected object is in
the same lane as the radar equipped car
traveling around a curve,
1. The radius of the curve must be measured.

This can be estimated closely from the front

wheel steering angle for an unbanked curve.

2. The scanning angle of the radar beam.

.Knowing both, a computer can quickly perform

the calculations to determine whether or not a

reflecting object is in the same lane as the
protected car.

COLLISION WARNING
SYSTEM
Better results can be obtained if the radar

transmitter is operated in a pulsed mode

rather than in a continuous wave mode.
In this mode, the transmitter is switched on
for a very short time, then it is switched off.
During the off time, the receiver is set to
receive a reflected signal.
If a reflecting object is in the path of the
transmitted microwave pulse, a corresponding
pulse will be reflected to the receiver.

COLLISION WARNING
SYSTEM
The round trip time, t, from transmitter to

object and back to receiver is proportional to

the range, R, to the object.

Where c is the speed of light (186,000 miles

per second).
The radar system has the capability of
accurately measuring this time to determine
the range to the object.

COLLISION WARNING
SYSTEM

COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM

A collision avoidance system compares the

time needed for a microwave signal to be

reflected from an object to the time needed
for a signal to be reflected from the ground.
By comparing these times with vehicle
speed data, the computer can calculate a
time to impact value and sound an alarm
if necessary.

VEHICLE SPEED
It is possible to measure the vehicle speed,

V, by measuring the Doppler frequency

shift of the pulsed signal reflected by the
ground.
The Doppler frequency shift is proportional
to the speed of the moving object.
This reflection can be discriminated from
the object reflection because the ground
reflection is at a low angle and a short,
fixed range.

REFLECTION FROM AN
OBJECT
The reflection from an object will have a pulse

shape that is very nearly identical to that of the

transmitted pulse.
The radar system can detect this object
reflection and find R to determine the distance
from the vehicle to the object.
In addition, the relative speed of closure
between the car and the object can be
calculated by adding the vehicle speed, V, from
the ground reflected pulses and the speed of the
object, S, which can be determined from the
change in range of the objects reflection pulses.

COLLISION AVOIDANCE
SYSTEM
The computer can perform a number of

calculations on these data.

For example, the computer can calculate
the time to collision, T.
Whenever this time is less than a preset
value, a visual and audible warning is
generated.
The system could also be programmed to
release the throttle and apply the brakes, if
automatic control were desired.

COLLISION AVOIDANCE
SYSTEM
If the object is traveling at the same speed

as the radar-equipped car and in the same

direction, S = -V, and T is infinite.
That is, a collision would never occur.
If the object is stationary, S = 0 and the
time to collision is:

COLLISION AVOIDANCE
SYSTEM
If the object is another moving car

approaching the radar-equipped car headon, the closing speed is the sum of the two
car speeds.
In this case, the time to closure is

Low Tire Pressure

Warning System

Low Tire Pressure

Warning System
In

this scheme, a tire pressure sensor

continually measures the tire pressure.
The signal from the sensor mounted on the
rolling tire is coupled by a link to the
electronic signal processor.
Whenever the pressure drops below a
critical limit, a warning signal is sent to a
display on the instrument panel to indicate
which tire has the low pressure.

Low Tire Pressure

Warning System
Design Constraints:
The link from the tire pressure sensor
mounted on the rotating tire to the signal
processor mounted on the body.
1. Slip ring.
2. Small radio transmitter mounted on the
tire.

Low Tire Pressure

Warning System

TPMS tire pressure

monitoring systems

Movement detection
In order to optimize the management of

this very low power consumption, which is

essential to these applications, we must
avoid any kind of wastage.
The first idea that comes to mind will no
doubt be to switch on the TPMS only when
the wheel is rotating.
Movement detection or not movement
detection??

TPMS without movement

detection
For simple financial reasons (the cost of

movement detection circuits), some TPMS

systems do not detect whether or not the
vehicle is moving.
Thus, these systems are woken up
cyclically by watchdog circuits and
periodically
read
the
pressure
and
temperature even when the vehicle is
stationary and transmit their values, even
when the vehicle is parked.
This considerably reduces the life of the
battery fitted in a TPMS.

TPMS with movement

detection
The TPMS has a battery fitted in it.
To

extend the battery life, it is really

preferable not to switch on the system
unless the vehicle is moving.
For this purpose, we need movement
detection systems, based on either
mechanical designs or electronic solutions.

TPMS with movement

detection
Mechanical:
Using a metal ball associated with a contact
which switches on the TPMS when a certain
centrifugal force is reached along the radial axis
of the wheel.
In other words, when a certain linear velocity,
and therefore an angular velocity, is reached.
Limitation:
These systems have (lower) limits which are
directly dependent on the minimum angular
velocities required to make this contact
And are consequently dependent on the rim
diameters, the reliability of the contacts, etc.

TPMS with movement

detection
Electronic:
Electronic movement detection device to
achieve a longer life for the battery and
therefore for the whole system.
1. The rotation of the wheel is detected by
detecting the synchronous magnetic
flux of the movement of the wheel.
2. An accelerometer is placed inside the
TPMS, to measure the acceleration at the
position of the valve.

Locating the wheels

If the information is to be of any practical use for the

driver, he must able to locate the wheel that it comes

from (right-hand front, left-hand back, etc.), and this
must be done :
Dynamically (the vehicle must move for a minimum

period to enable the system to correctly initialize the

location of the wheels with respect to the vehicle).
(OR)
Statically, in other words, without any need to
move the vehicle in order to carry out this wheel
location survey.

Locating the wheels

No location:
In order to avoid the complexity and cost of this
electronic
wheel
location
system,
some
companies make the economic choice to
initialize the vehicle and its wheels in the
factory, on the production line.
This is done during a special learning phase, by
creating an absolute one to-one mapping
between a wheel and its location on the vehicle.
Everything being based on the fact that each
integrated circuit in the TPMS has a unique
serial number.

Locating the wheels

With Location:
The above problems must be resolved if we
wish to allow for the fact that a user can
swap the wheels or carry out any of the
other operations mentioned above on his
vehicle, at his own home, at the weekend.

Locating the wheels

Seen from the valve, the directions of

rotation of the front right-hand and front

left-hand wheels are different (the same
applies to the rear wheels):
Movement takes place in the trigonometric
direction or in the opposite direction with
respect to a fixed reference point.
A second inductance L2 can be positioned
on the X-axis (axis of the tread), in
quadrature
with
the
inductance
L1
mentioned previously

Locating the wheels

Locating the wheels

When the wheels rotate, the two inductances L1

and L2 deliver voltages which, because of their

relative position (90), are in quadrature.
With L1 leading L2 for one wheel and L2
leading L1 for the other wheel.
Thus, by making a relative measurement of the
phases of the signals from L1 and L2, with the
inductances kept in the same position in the TPMS,
Using the sequence of movement of the voltages
from L1 and L2, it is easy to determine which is the
right-hand wheel and which is the left-hand one.

Locating the wheels

Another

system can be considered, for

example the one detecting the different
degrees of fading of the propagation
of the UHF signals obtained from the
wheels, due to the mechanical shape of the
vehicle.
Given that each integrated circuit has a
unique number (identifier), it becomes
easier to mark the messages sent by each
wheel

In static mode (when the

vehicle is stationary).
In this case, the TPMS must be operated without

movement detection.
1. After contact is made, the TPMS is woken up via
an external signal, for example by sending a
special message via one of the aforesaid
inductances but at a higher frequency.
2. A three-dimensional (3D) system is available, in
order to make it possible to communicate with
the TPMS at all times, even if the wheel has
been taken completely out of its housing nd the
valve on the rim is at the opposite end from the
base station controlling the communication.