Development of Integrated Chassis Control System for Vehicle Handling Enhancement

Various active chassis control systems have been developed to improve vehicle handling and stability. Brake-based electronic stability programs and advanced driveline technologies can distribute different wheel torque to all four wheels to regulate vehicle motion. Active front and rear steer systems are widely used to control the vehicle yaw rate and side slip responses. In addition, active anti-roll bars can improve vehicle handling by adjusting roll moment distribution. This paper proposes an integrated chassis control scheme that combines these individual systems using nonlinear predictive control theory. An 8 degree-of-freedom vehicle model is used with a Magic Formula tire model for controller development. The performance of proposed controller is compared to individual control system through simulation and shows significant improvement in vehicle handling.