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Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety

Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Els, P.S. (Pieter Schalk)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Els, P.S. (Pieter Schalk)
author_browse Els, P.S. (Pieter Schalk)
author_facet Els, P.S. (Pieter Schalk)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/40829
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:54.193Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/40829 Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety Els, P.S. (Pieter Schalk) hhamersma@gmail.com Hamersma, H.A. (Herman Adendorff) Autonomous vehicle Aerospace industry Mining Military sectors Control system UCTD Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of navigating and driving with no human intervention whatsoever through the utilization of various sensors and positioning systems. The possible applications of autonomous vehicles are widespread, ranging from the aerospace industry to the mining and military sectors where the exposure of human operators to the operating conditions is hazardous to their health and safety. Automobile accidents have become the leading cause of death in certain segments of the world population. Removing the human driver from the decision-making process through automation may result in significantly safer highways. Although full autonomy may be the ultimate goal, there is huge scope for systems that aid the driver in decision making or systems that take over from the driver under conditions where the human driver fails. The aim of the longitudinal control system to be implemented on the Land Rover test vehicle in this study is to improve the vehicle’s safety by controlling the vehicle’s longitudinal behaviour. A common problem with sports-utility-vehicles is the low rollover threshold, due to a high centre of gravity. Rather than modifying the vehicle to increase the rollover threshold, the aim of the control system presented here is to prevent the vehicle from exceeding speeds that would cause the vehicle to reach its rollover threshold. In order to develop a control system that autonomously controls the longitudinal degree of freedom, a model of the test vehicle (a 1997 Land Rover Defender 110 Wagon) was developed in MSC.ADAMS/View and validated experimentally. The model accurately captures the response of the test vehicle to supply forces as generated by the engine and demand forces applied through drag, braking and engine braking. Furthermore, the model has been validated experimentally to provide reliable simulation results for lateral and vertical dynamics. The control system was developed by generating a reference speed that the vehicle must track. This reference speed was formulated by taking into account the vehicle’s limits due to lateral acceleration, combined lateral and longitudinal acceleration and the vehicle’s performance capabilities. The control system generates the desired throttle pedal position, hydraulic pressure in the brake lines, clutch position and gear selection as output. The MSC.ADAMS\View model of the test vehicle was used to evaluate the performance of the control system on various racetracks of which the GPS coordinates were available. The simulation results indicate that the control system performs as expected. Finally, the control system was implemented on the test vehicle and the performance was evaluated by conducting field tests in the form of a severe double lane change manoeuvre. The results of the field tests indicated that the control system limited the acceleration vector of the vehicle’s centre of gravity to prescribed limits, as predicted by the simulation results. gm2014 Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering unrestricted 2014-07-17T12:12:09Z 2014-07-17T12:12:09Z 2014-04-16 2013 Dissertation Hamersma, HA 2013, Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety, MEng dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40829> E14/4/303/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40829 en © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Autonomous vehicle
Aerospace industry
Mining
Military sectors
Control system
UCTD
Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title_full Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title_fullStr Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title_full_unstemmed Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title_short Longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
title_sort longitudinal vehicle dynamics control for improved vehicle safety
topic Autonomous vehicle
Aerospace industry
Mining
Military sectors
Control system
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40829