MPC-based yaw stability control in in-wheel-motored EV via active front steering and motor torque distribution

This paper focuses on yaw stability control of in-wheel-motored electric vehicle (EV), and a model predictive controller is designed based on holistic control structure via active front steering and motor torque distribution. By designing a suitable reference model, the controller stabilizes a vehicle along the desired states while rejecting skid and fulfilling its physical constraints, so this is described as a constrained tracking problem. To solve this, the holistic control scheme is built to simplify the hierarchical structure of the controller and directly optimize the control inputs of system. Based on holistic control structure and MPC method, an objective function with constraints is designed over a receding horizon to meet the control requirements. Finally, the proposed nonlinear model predictive controller is evaluated on eight degrees of freedom (8DOF) EV model offline simulation platform. Simulation results of different road maneuver on slippery surfaces show the benefits of the control methodology used. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.