Further development on the LPV fault tolerant control for vehicle dynamics

This paper aims at presenting the efficiency of the Linear Parameter Varying method for vehicle dynamics control, in particular when some actuators may be in failure. The case of the suspension actuators failure and braking actuators failure are presented. The main objective is to enhance the vehicle dynamics even with faulty actuators through the suspension control (for comfort and road holding improvements) and the braking/steering control (for road handling and safety). Indeed, the LPV/H∞ fault tolerant MIMO gain-scheduled Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDSC) involves the steering actuators, rear brakes and four suspension systems, and aims at enhancing the yaw stability, lateral and vertical car performances (see Poussot-Vassal et al. (2011b), Doumiati et al. (2013)). This strategy is scheduled by 3 varying parameters (ρb, ρs and ρl). These parameters depend on a special monitoring system defined to evaluate the impact of braking/suspension actuator failures on the vehicle dynamical performances. The proposed LPV control structure then allows to handle such failures by an online adaptation of the control input distribution. Simulation results performed on a nonlinear model experimentally validated on a vehicle Renault Mégane Coupé MIPS (Mulhouse) subject to critical driving situations show that the proposed methodology is effective and robust.