Envelope Control: Stabilizing within the Limits of Handling Using a Sliding Surface

While today's ESC systems are effective, they are predominantly reactive, offering control effort only once the vehicle has become unstable. This paper introduces a new method of vehicle envelope control that proactively utilizes a sliding surface to keep the vehicle within a stable region. Experimental results are shown, using a steer-by-wire electric vehicle testbed to augment the driver's input through steering commands. The results demonstrate that the controller is successful in stabilizing the vehicle on a variable friction gravel surface.