An Active and Passive Steering Controller Study of Rubber-Tired Automated Guideway Transit Vehicles

Abstract

A comparative study of an active and passive steering controller of a rubber-tired Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) vehicle excited by random guideway irregularities is discussed. The thirteen-degree-of-freedom vehicle model, which was previously developed for passively steered rubber-tired AGT vehicles, is modified to facilitate the coupling of the vehicle to an active steering controller. Vehicle performance with the active steering controller, as well as the passive one, is evaluated in terms of root mean square (rms) values of the system outputs of interest. For the same level of the average rms tracking error, a two-sensor proportional active steering controller can improve the ride quality (about 12 percent reduction in lateral rms acceleration) compared to the present passive steering controller for a typical AGT vehicle with random guideway irregularity inputs.