IJCAS

Drivers who lack sufficient experience would be unable to achieve handling stability due to the variation and dynamics of the combined vehicles (CVs). Drivers face hurdles in the stabilization attempt once these vehicles are rendered unstable. In this investigation, the use of the behavior of real vehicles to track the desired properties of the developed combined vehicles can help maintain good handling stability despite the present varying dynamics. This paper provides an appropriate design method for CVs to gain suitable handling property for such vehicles. The developed adaptive steering controller (ASC) allows the tracking of the desired vehicle by the real vehicle, despite the variation of parameter and lack of information of the real vehicle. Simulation results are obtained to validate that the handling stability was improved by using one design parameter, which minimizes frequency oscillation caused in the wheel steering angles. The introduction of a driver model that can simulate the real vehicle demonstrated that the adoption of the ASC is useful in the driver-tractor-semitrailer system.

Keywords: Adaptive control, combined vehicles, desired combined vehicle, driver model, steering control, tracking control.