ME 50400 / ECE 59500

Automotive Control
Lecture Notes: 1

Instructor
Sohel Anwar, Ph.D., P.E.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

IUPUI

Background on Automotive Control

Early automobiles: Had mechanically controlled
engines with manual throttle, manual transmission, and
mechanical steering and brakes.
Todays Automobiles: Have numerous electronically
control systems, such as electronic fuel injection, ignition
timing control, anti-knock control, throttle-by-wire,
automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, traction control,
yaw stability control, on-demand all-wheel drive systems,
hybrid-electric propulsion, to name a few.
Future Automobiles: Are expected to be equipped with
advanced electronically controlled subsystems such as
brake-by-wire, steer-by-wire, active suspension, fuelcell and battery powered cars, etc.
2

Need for Automotive control

High gasoline prices fueling the production of
hybrid-electric-vehicles (HEVs).
Advanced controls can make todays internal
combustion (IC) engines more fuel efficient and less
polluting to the environment.
Advanced chassis controls systems can make
todays vehicles safer with active and intelligent
sensing, detection, and prevention of accidents.
Advanced control initiatives (such as drive-bywire) are aimed at integrating various functionalities
of vehicles for improved performance with respect
to fuel efficiency, safety, ergonomics, durability,
diagnostics, and various other factors.
3

Leading Factors for Advanced

Automotive Control Systems
Superior fuel efficiency leading to lower fuel
consumption.
Government regulations mandating lower vehicle
emissions to protect environment.
Superior occupant safety in various driving
conditions and drivers demands.
Customizable performance features for different
drivers based on ride and handling requirements.
Superior diagnostic capability to identify system
fault and inform driver of the situation.
Superior drivability via proper driveline torque
management.
Modular automotive systems for easy assembly.
More features on the car at a lower cost.
4

Drive By Wire Systems: Advanced

Automotive Control
No mechanical or hydraulic connection between the
drivers input interface (e.g. throttle, brake, steering)
and the vehicle system (e.g. engine/traction motor,
brake/steering actuators).
An automotive system that interprets drivers input and
executes the command to produce desired vehicle
behavior, typically via a microprocessor based control
system.
Typical by-wire systems comprise of redundant sensors,
actuators, microprocessors, and communication
channels for fault tolerance.
5

Examples of Advanced Automotive

Control

Brake-By-Wire: Mercedes SL 500

Hybrid Electric Vehicle with

Drive-By-Wire (Concept)

Solar Powered Vehicle

Benefits of Drive-By-Wire Systems

Easily configurable for added features and/or tunable
features
Enhanced vehicle performance
Improved fuel economy via better engine / motor /
powertrain control
Enhanced safety at no cost (stability control added in
the software No hardware change required)
Further improvement in fuel efficiency via
regenerative braking
Better ergonomics
- Adjustable feel at Drivers Interface
- Optional joystick activation
Better fault detection and warning
10

Design Challenges for Fuel Cell Hybrid

Electric Vehicle (FCHEV)
Investigate methods of operating the motor at its peak
efficiency level most of the time despite the variation in
drivers power requests, road conditions, and state of
charge in the fuel cell.
Investigate the development of novel algorithms for Fuel
Cell / Battery power management systems for maximum
motor efficiency.
Investigate the development of accurate models of the
fuel-cell based powertrain systems. A number of
modeling tools (e.g. neural network, fuzzy logic) can be
utilized.
11

Design Challenges in Fault Tolerant

Control of Drive-By-Wire Vehicles
Investigate minimization of redundancy in the
hardware components (sensors/actuators) via the
use of robust model-based fault detection, isolation,
and management algorithms for Drive-By-Wire
systems.
Physics-based mathematical model as well as
models based on system identification methods
and/or Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models can be
investigated for drive-by-wire sub-systems modeling.
For fault identification and management, intelligent
rule-based algorithms as well as fuzzy-logic based
algorithms for the DBW system can be investigated.
12

Electro-hydraulic Brake-By-Wire System

EH System Model
Driver
Module

Qout
PU

MicroController

Qb
Pc
Qd

Qin

13

Pressure
Transducer

BBW Pedal Modeling & Control

- Simplified Model
Ts

Tm

d 2
d
J 2 b
T f Tg (Ts Tm )
dt
dt

Tf
Fg

- Control Block Diagram

Tg

1
s

1
s

+
_

1
J

Ts
Tdes

+
_

des +
_

ides

1
s 1

PI

Tm+Ts

14

i
Ki

Tm
+

Tf

Brake Pedal Feel

15

Yaw Stability Control: Vehicle

Active Safety
Yaw instability can be defined as the vehicles inability
to follow drivers request for a directional change.

Two distinct situations may arise:

- Understeer: when the vehicle yaw rate falls short of
expected yaw rate (front slip angle > rear slip angle)
- Oversteer: when the vehicle yaw rate exceeds the
expected value (front slip angle < rear slip angle.

16

Benefits of Yaw Stability Control

Improved safety in lane change, turning, and other

steering actions on a low friction coefficient surface at
various vehicle speeds

Improved performance in various lane change and

steering maneuvers via correction of understeer and
oversteer conditions

17

ABS Performance in a Lane Change

Maneuver

18

Stability Control Performance

19

Stability Control Performance

21

Yaw Stability Control System

22

Adaptive Cruise Control System

23

Adaptive Lane Keeping System

24

Basic Subsystems of an Automobile

that have Control Functionality
Propulsion System: Normally comprised of engine / electric
motor that produces power to drive the vehicle. Cruise control
maintains vehicle speed by controlling the throttle opening.
Transmission: It controls the engine torque output to the drive
wheels via gear shifts to accommodate for different torque
demands at difference vehicle speeds.
Driveline System: It selectively controls the torque to the parttime drive axle for an all-wheel drive system.
Chassis Systems: It includes steering, brakes, throttle,
suspension, driveline, axles.
Body Electronics: It is responsible for various body control
functions such as door lock, instrument cluster, windows,
mirrors, lights, wipers, etc.
Climate Control: It controls the inside temperature of the
vehicle and aids in keeping windshield screens clear.
25

Questions?

26