MPC-based Torque Distribution for Planar Motion of Four-wheel Independently Driven Electric Vehicles:Considering Motor Models and Iron Losses

The most critical obstacle for four-wheel independently driven electric vehicles(4WID-EVs)is the driving range.Being the actuators of 4WID-EVs,motors account for its major power consumption.In this sense,by properly distributing torques to minimize the power consumption,the driving range of 4WID-EV can be effectively improved.This paper proposes a model predictive control(MPC)-based torque distribution scheme,which minimizes the power consumption of 4WID-EVs while guaranteeing its tracking performance of planar motions.By incorporating the motor model considering iron losses,the optimal torque distribution can be achieved without an additional torque controller.Also,for this reason,the proposed control scheme is computationally efficient,since the power consumption term to be optimized,which is expressed as the product of the motor voltages and currents,is much simpler than that derived from the efficiency map.With reasonable simplification and linearization,the MPC problem is converted to a quadratic programming problem,which can be solved efficiently.The simulation results in MATLAB and CarSim co-simulation environments demonstrate that the proposed scheme effectively reduces power consumption with guaranteed tracking performance.

Research on Vehicle Control Technology Using Four-Wheel Independent Steering System

The enhancement of vehicle handling stability and maneuverability through active and independent rear wheels control is presented. Firstly, the configuration of four-wheel independent steering prototype vehide is introduced briefly. Then the concrete overall design of the electronic controllers of four wheel independent steering system （4WIS） is formulated in details. Under the control strategy of zero sideslip angle at mass center, the mathematical model of 4WIS is established to deduce the equations of separated rear wheel steering angles. According to these equations, simulation analysis for 4WIS vehicle performances is finished to show that 4WIS vehicle can improve the maneuverability greatly at low speed and increase the handling stability at high speed. Finally, the road test of 4WIS vehide has performed to verify the correctness of simulation and show that compared with the conventional four wheel steering （4WS） vehicle, the 4WIS vehicle not only improves the kinematical harmony but also decreases steering resistance and lighten abrasion of tires.

Autonomous Tracking Control for Four-Wheel Independent Steering Robot Based on Improved Pure Pursuit

Autonomous tracking control is one of the fundamental challenges in the field of robotic autonomous navigation,especially for future intelligent robots.In this paper,an improved pure pursuit control method is proposed for the path tracking control problem of a four-wheel independent steering robot.Based on the analysis of the four-wheel independent steering model,the kinematic model and the steering geometry model of the robot are established.Then the path tracking control is realized by considering the correlation between the look-ahead distance and the velocity,as well as the lateral error between the robot and the reference path.The experimental results demonstrate that the improved pure pursuit control method has the advantages of small steady-state error,fast response and strong robustness,which can effectively improve the accuracy of path tracking.

An Integrated Control Framework for Torque Vectoring and Active Suspension System

Four-wheel independently driven electric vehicles(FWID-EV)endow a flexible and scalable control framework to improve vehicle performance.This paper integrates the torque vectoring and active suspension system(ASS)to enhance the vehicle’s longitudinal and vertical motion control performance.While the nonlinear characteristic of the tire model leads to a relatively heavier computational burden.To facilitate the controller design and ease the load,a half-vehicle dynamics system is built and simplified to the linear-time-varying(LTV)model.Then a model predictive controller is developed by formulating the objective function by comprehensively considering the safety,energy-saving and comfort requirements.The in-wheel motor efficiency and the power loss of tire slip are treated as optimization indices in this work to reduce energy consumption.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed controller is verified through the rapid-control-prototype(RCP)test.The results demonstrate the enhancement of the energy-saving as well as comfort on the basis of vehicle stability.

温室作业用柔性底盘试验样机的设计

结合设施农业实际作业要求,研制了基于四轮独立驱动与四轮独立转向原理的柔性底盘试验样机。试验样机轮距1 320 mm,轴距1 200 mm,最小离地间隙235 mm,整机质量750 kg。底盘设计额定牵引力2 400 N,额定功率8 k W,最高设计时速28 km/h,犁耕作业速度5 km/h,连续犁耕作业时间大于1 h。设计并搭建了采用CAN总线通信的模块化分层控制系统,其中单轮行走系控制子系统采用自适应模糊PID控制算法来协调控制。相对于理论样机,柔性底盘试验样机在整机动力、机械结构和控制系统等方面做出了多项改进。进行了单轮行走系转向响应试验和底盘基本运行姿态试验,得到各轮行走系平均转向角度为89.84°~90.11°,平均转向响应时间为4.24~4.28 s;在各基本运行姿态下,底盘质心加速度跳动值均小于0.007 g。表明柔性底盘试验样机能够在硬化路面上有效稳定运行。

Development of a tomato harvesting robot used in greenhouse

A tomato harvesting robot was developed in this study,which consisted of a four-wheel independent steering system,a 5-DOF harvesting system,a navigation system,and a binocular stereo vision system.The four-wheel independent steering system was capable of providing a low-speed steering control of the robot based on Ackerman steering geometry.The proportional-integral-derivative(PID)algorithm was used in the laser navigation control system.The Otsu algorithm and the elliptic template method were used for the automatic recognition of ripe tomatoes,and obstacle avoidance strategies were proposed based on the C-space method.The maximum average absolute error between the set angle and the actual angle was about 0.14°,and the maximum standard deviation was about 0.04°.The laser navigation system was able to rapidly and accurately track the path,with the deviation being less than 8 cm.The load bearing capacity of the mechanical arm was about 1.5 kg.The success rate of the binocular vision system in the recognition of ripe tomatoes was 99.3%.When the distance was less than 600 mm,the positioning error was less than 10 mm.The time needed for recognition of ripe tomatoes and pitching was about 15 s per tomato,with a success rate of about 86%.This study provides some insights into the development and application of tomato harvesting robot used in the greenhouse.