Active Roll Control for Rollover Prevention of Heavy Articulated Vehicles With Multiple-Rollover-Index Minimization

This paper presents the application of a nominal control design algorithm for rollover prevention of heavy articulated vehicles with active anti-roll bar control. This proposed methodology is based on an extension of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control for ‘state derivative induced (control coupled) output regulation’ problems. For heavy articulated vehicles with multiple axles, a performance index with Multiple Rollover Indices (MRI) is proposed. The proposed methodology allows us to compare the usefulness of various control configurations (i.e. actuators at different axles of the vehicle) based on the interaction of this control configuration with vehicle dynamics. Application of this methodology to a specific heavy articulated vehicle with tractor semi-trailer shows that a single active anti-roll bar system at the trailer unit gives better performance than multiple-axle actuators at tractor and trailer together with the double lane change maneuver as the external disturbance.