Lateral vehicle dynamics control based on tyre utilization coefficients and tyre force measurements

In assessing and controlling vehicle dynamics, tyre forces are the most important variables as they are the only point of interaction with the road. Estimating tyre forces is difficult for their nonlinear characteristics and most vehicle dynamics controllers are therefore based on indirect measurements as yaw rate. With the invention of tyre force sensors, direct measurement of tyre forces is possible. In this work, a tyre force based lateral vehicle dynamics controller is proposed. The controller, applying an independent steering correction, controls the lateral tyre forces so to better distribute the force on the four tyres. This is obtained equating the tyre utilization coefficients. The proposed controller is tested in a simulation environment using CarSim and Simulink.