An Advanced Electric Vehicle for Development and Test of New Vehicle-Dynamics Control Strategies

In an introduction, the present paper gives a short survey of existing vehicle-dynamics control systems that is based on some examples and thus does not claim to be complete. There is a tendency towards an increased interlinking of these systems and, as a result, a need for flexible automotive testing platforms. As an approach, an electric X-by-wire test vehicle which was designed and mounted for developing and testing new strategies of vehicle-dynamics control is presented. It is built up modularly and provides numerous degrees of freedom that enable a control strategy which is based on an optimization of the tire forces. That strategy is also presented. It takes into account possible actuator breakdowns and uses the redundancy in the vehicle to realize the desired movement even in the case of such a breakdown. An outlook on future possibilities in vehicle-dynamics control resulting from the use of self-optimization is also given.