Minimizing Driver Demands and Data Acquisition Errors in Trailer Testing 2001-01-0049

In testing to determine the yaw oscillation response of a vehicle-trailer combination, the vehicle combination is driven in a straight line, at a specified speed; then a rapid, fixed-amplitude, short-duration pulse is applied to the steering wheel, while maintaining a constant speed. These requirements often result in multiple test runs to ensure an acceptable minimum variability in the damping ratio estimate for the vehicle-trailer combination.

This paper investigates techniques for relieving the demands placed on the driver and for acquiring and processing the data required for analysis from this test. The testing used two different vehicle-trailer combinations, two different drivers, and an Automated Steering Controller (ASC). Damping ratio estimate comparisons were made between drivers, drivers and the ASC, transducers, data filtering, and calculation methods. The use of the ASC significantly reduced the demands placed on the test driver, provided more consistent data at each test speed, and reduced the number of test runs required at each test speed.