A Study on μ-Synthesis Control for Four-Wheel Steering System to Enhance Vehicle Lateral Stability

Abstract

This paper presents the design of μ-synthesis control for four-wheel steering (4WS) vehicle and an experimental study using a hardware-in-the-loop (Hil) setup. First, the robust controller is designed and the selection of weighting functions is discussed in the framework of μ-synthesis control scheme, considering the varying parameters induced by running vehicle condition. Second, in order to investigate the feasibility of the four-wheel steering control system, the 4WS vehicle control system is built using dSPACE DS1005 platform. The experimental tests are performed using the Hil setup which has been constructed using the devised rear steering actuating system. The dynamics performance is evaluated by experiment using the Hil setup under the condition of parameter variations. Finally, experimental results show that the μ-synthesis controller can enhance good vehicle lateral maneuverability.