Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure

Wheel-selective drives on the steered axle of a vehicle with Ackermann steering allow for the generation of steering torque without the use of a steering actuator. If different drive torques are applied to the left and right driven wheels, their effect on the steering torque is not balanced, and a r...

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Main Authors: Alexander Seiffer, Michael Frey, Frank Gauterin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2024-01-01
Series:IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10742943/
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author Alexander Seiffer
Michael Frey
Frank Gauterin
author_facet Alexander Seiffer
Michael Frey
Frank Gauterin
author_sort Alexander Seiffer
collection DOAJ
description Wheel-selective drives on the steered axle of a vehicle with Ackermann steering allow for the generation of steering torque without the use of a steering actuator. If different drive torques are applied to the left and right driven wheels, their effect on the steering torque is not balanced, and a resulting steering torque remains (differential steering). Thus, the function of a steering actuator can be replaced, e.g., in case of a failure. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of controlling a vehicle using differential steering. However, the vehicle dynamics during the failure-induced transition from actuator-based to differential steering control have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, we utilize a cascaded vehicle dynamics control approach with control allocation to distribute the total drive and steering torques to the available actuators in an overactuated chassis system. Based on both simulation studies and validation experiments with a demonstrator vehicle, we investigate the vehicle dynamics immediately following actuator failures. Our cascaded approach ensures precise vehicle guidance in both nominal and redundancy mode via differential steering. After a sudden actuator failure, vehicle guidance is reliably maintained, even in dynamic driving conditions, as the approach also considers the effect of drive torque distribution on the total yaw torque (torque vectoring). The analyses conducted using the proposed approach demonstrate that a safe transition to cross-actuator functional redundancy after an actuator failure is achievable. Consequently, differential steering can be evaluated as a suitable basis for cross-actuator functional redundancy concepts to enable fault-tolerant operation of steer-by-wire systems.
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spelling doaj-art-d6bcb3b377254e8fa037bf16e93970302025-01-24T00:02:43ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems2687-78132024-01-01575677310.1109/OJITS.2024.349211510742943Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator FailureAlexander Seiffer0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4304-1617Michael Frey1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1452-1360Frank Gauterin2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0870-7540SHARE at KIT, Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG., Karlsruhe, GermanyInstitute of Vehicle System Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, GermanyInstitute of Vehicle System Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, GermanyWheel-selective drives on the steered axle of a vehicle with Ackermann steering allow for the generation of steering torque without the use of a steering actuator. If different drive torques are applied to the left and right driven wheels, their effect on the steering torque is not balanced, and a resulting steering torque remains (differential steering). Thus, the function of a steering actuator can be replaced, e.g., in case of a failure. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of controlling a vehicle using differential steering. However, the vehicle dynamics during the failure-induced transition from actuator-based to differential steering control have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, we utilize a cascaded vehicle dynamics control approach with control allocation to distribute the total drive and steering torques to the available actuators in an overactuated chassis system. Based on both simulation studies and validation experiments with a demonstrator vehicle, we investigate the vehicle dynamics immediately following actuator failures. Our cascaded approach ensures precise vehicle guidance in both nominal and redundancy mode via differential steering. After a sudden actuator failure, vehicle guidance is reliably maintained, even in dynamic driving conditions, as the approach also considers the effect of drive torque distribution on the total yaw torque (torque vectoring). The analyses conducted using the proposed approach demonstrate that a safe transition to cross-actuator functional redundancy after an actuator failure is achievable. Consequently, differential steering can be evaluated as a suitable basis for cross-actuator functional redundancy concepts to enable fault-tolerant operation of steer-by-wire systems.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10742943/Chassis controlcontrol allocationdifferential steeringdrive-by-wirefault toleranceover-actuated vehicle
spellingShingle Alexander Seiffer
Michael Frey
Frank Gauterin
Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems
Chassis control
control allocation
differential steering
drive-by-wire
fault tolerance
over-actuated vehicle
title Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
title_full Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
title_fullStr Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
title_full_unstemmed Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
title_short Control Allocation Approach Using Differential Steering to Compensate for Steering Actuator Failure
title_sort control allocation approach using differential steering to compensate for steering actuator failure
topic Chassis control
control allocation
differential steering
drive-by-wire
fault tolerance
over-actuated vehicle
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10742943/
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