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Simulators are essential part of the development process of vehicles and their advanced functionalities. The combination of virtual simulator and Hardware-in-the-loop technology accelerates the integration and functional validation of ECUs and mechanical components. The aim of this research is to investigate the benefits that can arise from the coupling of a steering Hardware-in-the-loop simulator and an advanced multi-contact tire model, as opposed to the conventional single-contact tire model. On-track tests were executed to collect data necessary for tire modelling using an experimental vehicle equipped with wheel force transducer, to measure force and moments acting on tire contact patch. The steering wheel was instrumented with a torque sensor, while tie-rod axial forces were quantified using loadcells. The same test set has been replicated using the Hardware-in-the-loop simulator using both the single-contact and multi-contact tire model.

Current ADAS systems can improve vehicle safety directly influencing its dynamics, reducing the impact of human error while driving. These functionalities have a high impact on the complexity of each unit installed on the car, potentially increasing the development time. In this work, a Hardware in the Loop testing bench and methodology for Autonomous Emergency Braking system is presented, aiming to enable a faster system development process. A commercial production brake by wire unit has been installed on a real-time driving simulator. The AEB functionality of the unit is activable in real-time during the simulation, by the means of a customizable control strategy. Two different AEB controllers have been implemented: the first one reproduces the unit stock functionality, while the second computes the requested deceleration using a PID control strategy.

Traditional vehicles are designed to be inherently stable. This is typically obtained by imposing a large positive static margin (SM). The main drawbacks of this approach are the resulting understeering behavior of the vehicle and, often, a decrease in peak lateral grip due to oversized rear tire characteristics. On the other hand, a lower SM can cause a greater time delay in the vehicle’s response which hardens the control of a vehicle at limit handling for a human being. By introducing advanced autonomous driving features into future vehicles, the human factor can be excluded in limit handling manoeuvers (e.g., obstacle avoidance occurrences) and, consequently, the need for a high SM (i.e., high controllability for human drivers) can be avoided. Therefore, it could be possible to exploit the passive vehicle dynamics and enhance the performance, both in terms of peak grip and transient response.

The Electro actuated Limited Slip Differential (e-LSD) can help increasing the dynamic features of the vehicle, but to implement a well designed control logic it is necessary a deep knowledge of the actual friction torque built up by the differential clutch. This work presents the development of such a control law that takes into account the wear depth progression. To carry out this task, an alternative method has been used to study the clutch discs engagement depending on the wear rate. The method takes advantages from a mixed approach with a numerical and an experimental part. Using a general purpose block-on-ring test bench, the tribologic analyses were performed following the ASTM G77 standard; thus, the friction coefficient has been investigated in the contact between discs with molybdenum treatment and steel alloy discs, as well as its variation depending on the wear rate.

The adoption of Electrical Power Steering (EPS) systems has greatly opened up the possibilities to control the steering wheel torque, which is a critical parameter in the subjective and objective evaluation of a new vehicle. Therefore, the tuning of the EPS controller is not only becoming increasing complicated, containing dozens of parameters and maps, but it is crucial in defining the basic DNA of the steering feeling characteristics. The largely subjective nature of the steering feeling assessment means that EPS tuning consists primarily of subjective tests on running prototypes. On account of that, this paper presents an alternative test bench for steering feeling simulation and evaluation. It combines a static driving simulator with a physical EPS assisted steering rack. The end goal is to more accurately reproduce the tactile feedback to the driver by including a physical hardware in lieu of complicated and difficult to obtain software models.

In a Formula SAE car, as for almost all racecars, suppressing or limiting the action of the differential mechanism is the technique mostly adopted to improve the traction exiting the high lateral acceleration corners. The common Limited Slip Differentials (LSDs) unbalance the traction torque distribution, generating as a secondary effect a yaw torque on the vehicle. If this feature is electronically controlled, these devices can be used to manage the attitude of the car. The yaw torque introduced by an electronically controlled LSD (which can also be called SAD, “Semi-Active Differential”) could suddenly change from oversteering (i.e. pro-yaw) to understeering (i.e. anti-yaw), depending on the driving conditions. Therefore, controlling the vehicle attitude with a SAD could be challenging, and its effectiveness could be low if compared with the common torque vectoring systems, which act on the brake system of the car.

The aim of this work is to define the core of a stability control, called Active Vehicle System, for a hybrid Formula SAE car that will compete in the next season in the upcoming Alternative Energies (Class 1A) class. The vehicle on which the control system will act is equipped with two electric motors on the front axle and an internal combustion engine connected to the rear axle by the way of a semi-active differential. The layout of the car under consideration has been defined with the purpose of getting the most effectiveness by the Active Vehicle System, whose role is to define a yaw torque to be applied to the vehicle in order to correct its behavior during each maneuver. The results of the Upper Controller will be actuated by two Lower Controllers, one dedicated to the electric motors and one to the semi-active differential. On such controlled vehicle some testing maneuvers have been performed, in order to check its functionality.

The paper is focused on the stress field acting on a continuously variable transmission (CVT) mechanism used on the high displacement scooters produced by Piaggio & C. S.p.A. The most important results of the analysis have been extrapolated with the aim of providing the designers with some guidelines useful to reduce the design error occurrence. In detail, in the paper is described the behavior of the belt and of the driven pulley, that are the critical parts of the assembly. The analysis has been conducted with a full MultiBody model of the mechanism combined with the Finite Element analysis of both the belt and the pulley. The output data so obtained have been used in a fatigue analysis in order to define the reliability of these parts. This paper could serve as a base to define a new proportioning method, that should be based on the whole stress history of each part of the assembly, computed with the aid of some numerical tools.