Robust engine slipping start control of hybrid electric vehicles with uncertainty in clutch slipping torque and change in driver demand torque

The engine slipping start (ESS) benefits parallel hybrid electric vehicles from stable ignition and emission reduction. However, inappropriate coordination between the traction motor torque and clutch slipping torque during the ESS will lead to poor smoothness of the vehicle and failed start of the engine. Uncertainty in clutch slipping torque and change in driver demand torque bring tough challenges with sluggish convergence and intensive vehicle jerk in practice. To deal with this problem, a novel two-layer model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) which contains two parallel reference models is proposed to improve robustness and convergence rate simultaneously. On one hand, uncertainties of clutch slipping torque are divided into a low-frequency part and a high-frequency part, and adaptive laws based on the output feedback are designed contrapuntally to enhance robustness. On the other hand, two parallel reference models are designed to accelerate the tracking error convergence rate without changing the reference profiles, which is generated according to the driver demand torque in real time. To test the robustness and convergence rate, the proposed two-layer MRAC is compared with the classical MRAC and proportional–integral controller under the driving scenario with uncertain clutch slipping torque and abrupt change in driver demand torque. The sensitivity with different adaptive gains and low-frequency and high-frequency uncertainties in clutch slipping torque are examined. Finally, hardware-in-the-loop experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed two-layer MRAC.