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Wheel slip control is crucial to active safety control systems such as Traction Control System (TCS) and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) that ensure vehicle safety by maintaining the wheel slip in a stable region. For this reason, a wide variety of control methods has been implemented by both researchers and in the industry. Moreover, the use of new electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical brakes, and in-wheel electric motors allow for a more precise wheel slip control, which should further improve the vehicle dynamics and safety. In this paper, we compare two methods for wheel slip control: a loop-shaping Youla parametrization method, and a sliding mode control method. Each controller is designed based on a simple single wheel system. The benefits and drawbacks of both methods are addressed. Finally, the performance and stability robustness of each controller is evaluated based on several metrics in a simulation using a high-fidelity vehicle model with several driving scenarios.

The auto industry is responding to the environmental and energy conservation concerns by gradually producing mass-production of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) as well as conducting development of fuel cell vehicles. One of many challenges of putting a customer-satisfactory HEV on the road is to develop “imperceptible” engine start-stops. This paper presents an investigation of engine start-stop NVH in a power split powertrain HEV. This investigation includes analyzing the root cause of engine start-stop NVH issues, developing the methodology and metric to gauge NVH improvement, and developing measures to resolve the NVH issues. The effectiveness of some proposed counter measures are presented and discussed through vehicle testing results. Finally, the overall NVH improvement of engine start-stop with implementation of practical counter measures is also presented.

Torque controls for the engine and electric motors in a Powersplit HEV are keys to the success of balancing fuel economy, driveability, and battery power control. The electric variable transmission (EVT) offers an opportunity to let the engine operate at system-optimal fuel efficient points independently of any load. Existing work shows such a benefit can be realized through a decentralized control structure that translates the driver inputs to independent engine torque and speed control. However, our study shows that the decentralized control structures have a fundamental limitation that arises from the nonminimum phase (NMP) zero in the transfer function from the driver power command to the generator torque change rate, and thus not only is it difficult to obtain smooth generator torque but also it can cause violations on battery power limits during transients. Additionally, it adversely affects the driveability due to the generator torque transients reflected at the ring gear.

In recent years we have witnessed increased discrepancy between fuel economy numbers reported in accordance with EPA testing procedures and real world fuel economy reported by drivers. The debates range from needs for new testing procedures to the fact that driver complaints create one-sided distribution; drivers that get better fuel economy do not complain about the fuel economy, but only the ones whose fuel economy falls short of expectations. In this paper, we demonstrate fuel economy improvements that can be obtained if the driver is properly sophisticated in the skill of driving. Implementation of SmartGauge with EcoGuide into the Ford C-MAX Hybrid in 2013 helped drivers improve their fuel economy on hybrid vehicles. Further development of this idea led to the EcoCoach that would be implemented into all future Ford vehicles.

Automotive manufacturers continue to move further toward powertrain electrification. There are already many hybrid electric vehicles on the market that are based on a variety of system architectures. Ford Motor Company has investigated a new Dual Drive configuration that promises to overcome some of the attribute deficiencies associated with current architectures. The primary objective of this development project was to demonstrate the fuel economy potential of this system in a vehicle. To accomplish this objective, the team used an internally developed, formal Controls Development Process (CDP) for the control system design and validation. This paper describes the development of the vehicle control system in the context of this process.

Ford Motor Company has developed a full hybrid electric vehicle with a dual-drive hybrid powertrain configuration that has great potential to overcome some attribute deficiencies in existing hybrid powertrain architectures. This paper first provides an overview of the dual-drive hybrid electric vehicle architecture and its primary operating modes. The paper then presents the energy management control system that selects operating modes and desired powertrain operating points to improve fuel efficiency. Finally, experimental results from a dual-drive hybrid prototype vehicle are used to demonstrate the fuel efficiency improvement.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) offer improved fuel efficiency compared to their conventional counterparts at the expense of adding complexity and at times, reduced total power. As a result, HEV generally lack the dynamic performance that customers enjoy. To address this issue, the paper presents a HEV with eAWD capabilities via the use of a torque vectoring electric rear axle drive (TVeRAD) unit to power the rear axle. The addition of TVeRAD to a front wheel drive HEV improves the total power output. To further improve the handling characteristics of the vehicle, the TVeRAD unit allows for wheel torque vectoring at the rear axle. A bond graph model of the proposed drivetrain model is developed and used in co-simulation with CarSim. The paper proposes a control system which utilizes tire force optimization to allocate control to each tire. The optimization algorithm is used to obtain optimal tire force targets to at each tire such that the targets avoid tire saturation.

The automotive industry is rapidly expanding its Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicle product offerings in response to meet customer wants and regulatory requirements. One way for electrified vehicles to have an increasing impact on fleet-level CO2 emissions is for their sales volumes to go up. This means that electrified vehicles need to deliver a complete set of vehicle level attributes like performance, Fuel Economy and range that is attractive to a wide customer base at an affordable cost of ownership. As part of “democratizing” the Hybrid and plug-In Hybrid technology, automotive manufacturers aim to deliver these vehicle level attributes with a powertrain architecture at lowest cost and complexity, recognizing that customer wants may vary considerably between different classes of vehicles. For example, a medium duty truck application may have to support good trailer tow whereas a C-sized sedan customer may prefer superior city Fuel Economy.

Regenerative braking in hybrid electric vehicles is an essential feature to achieve the maximum fuel economy benefit of hybridization. During vehicle braking, the regenerative braking recuperates its kinetic energy, otherwise dissipated into heat due to friction brake, into electrical energy to charge the battery. The recuperation is realized by the driven wheels propelling, through the drivetrain, the electric motor as a generator to provide braking while generating electricity. “Rigid” connection between the driven wheels and the motor is critical to regenerative braking; otherwise the motor could drive the input of the transmission to a halt or even rotating in reverse direction, resulting in no hydraulic pressure for transmission controls due to the loss of transmission mechanical oil pump flow.

The 2013 Ford Fusion will be launched with an optional automatic engine start-stop feature. To realize engine start-stop on a vehicle equipped with a conventional powertrain, there are two major challenges in the vehicle system controls. First, the propulsive torque delivery from a stopped engine has to be fast. The vehicle launch delay has to be minimized such that the corporate vehicle attributes can be met. Second, the fuel economy improvement offered by this technology has to justify the cost associated with it. In pursuing fuel economy, the driver's comfort and convenience should be minimally impacted. To tackle these challenges, a vehicle system control strategy has been developed to accurately interpret the driver's intent, monitor the vehicle subsystem's power demands, schedule engine automatic stop and re-start, and coordinate the fast and smooth torque delivery to the wheels.

Ford Motor Company has investigated a series hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) configuration to move further toward powertrain electrification. This paper first provides a brief overview of the Vehicle System Controls (VSC) architecture and its development process. The paper then presents the energy management strategies that select operating modes and desired powertrain operating points to improve fuel efficiency. The focus will be on the controls design and optimization in a Model-in-the-Loop environment and in the vehicle. Various methods to improve powertrain operation efficiency will also be presented, followed by simulation results and vehicle test data. Finally, opportunities for further improvements are summarized.