Enhanced Estimation of Clamping-Force for Automotive EMB Actuators Using a Switching Extended State Observer

The automotive intelligence and electrification require the braking system to cooperate with the controller to achieve regenerative and active braking functions. Hence, the range and driving safety of the electric vehicles are improved. Electromechanical brake (EMB) systems completely abandon the fluid and hydraulic elements and replace the traditional hydraulic braking system with a wire harness and electromechanical parts. The braking torque adjustment is achieved entirely by controlling the four-wheel EMBs. At present, reliability and fault tolerance are the key technical issues associated with EMBs. To eliminate the need of any clamping-force sensor due to its vulnerability and high cost, in this article, a switching extended state observer (SESO) is presented to provide rapid force estimation with higher precision. The substrates of the internal linear and nonlinear structures have been unified into a single form by using an equivalent gain method. The SESO is effective to detect the initial contact between the braking disk and pad by estimating the load torque. It is experimentally verified that the developed force sensorless control strategy is accurate and superior to the existing techniques.