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Virtual Prototyping of an Electric Power Steering Simulator

Lamri Nehaoua, Mohamed Djema, and Philippe Pudlo
AbstractThis paper presents a simulation tool for an electrical steering system whose aim is twofold: 1) to investigate the possibility of designing a minimum clearance mechatronic platform with sensorless control methods and 2) to evaluate assistance torque control feedback by considering technological specications and human factor consideration. The choice has been made for a driving simulator having at least a real steering system with an electrical power steering (EPS) device and an adequate motor to reproduce the rack load force resulting from tire/road contact, as in a real driving situation. These components are gathered to form a virtual simulator platform, which serves as a basis for future realization. Our main contributions concern the vehicles front assembly kinematics modeling and the evaluation of the load rack force resulting from tire/road interaction. In addition, a real application of the most recent virtual sensor algorithms, arising from the sliding-mode observer theory for states and unknown input estimation, is described. Index TermsDriving simulation, power-steering system, virtual sensor.

I. I NTRODUCTION

HE VEHICLE has greatly evolved in less than two decades. Nowadays, a car has complex mechatronics, where numerous safety/comfort devices and functionalities have been standardized. Among others, power-assisted steering became an unavoidable system. It may be described as a driver torque amplier used to make vehicle steering easier in given driving maneuvers. Many actuation technologies are used for power-assisted steering systems, which can be classied into three main categories: 1) hydraulic type; 2) electrical type; and 3) a combination of the two, with noticeable interest within the automotive industry toward electrical power steering (EPS). It undoubtedly constitutes an intermediate step toward the suppression of any mechanical connection between the driver and the vehicle wheels.

Manuscript received March 17, 2012; revised July 4, 2012; accepted July 21, 2012. Date of publication August 24, 2012; date of current version February 25, 2013. This work was supported in part by the French National Research Agency (A N R) VOL H AND Project ANR-09-VTT-14-01/06, by the International Campus on Transportation Safety and Intermodality, by the European Community, by the Nord/Pas-de-Calais Region, and by the National Center for Scientic Research. The Associate Editor for this paper was S. S. Nedevschi. L. Nehaoua is with the Informatics, Integrative Biology and Complex Systems Laboratory, University of Evry Val dEssonne, 91 025 Evry, France (e-mail: lamri.nehaoua@ibisc.univ-evry.fr). M. Djema and P. Pudlo are with the Industrial and Human Automation Control, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences Laboratory (LAMIH, CNRS UMR 8201), University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrsis, 59313 Valenciennes, France (e-mail: Mohamed.Djemai@univ-valenciennes.fr; Philippe.Pudlo@univ-valenciennes.fr). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TITS.2012.2211352

Nevertheless, EPS assistance control laws have no systematic feedback design method since they are mainly based on torque boost maps. These maps are tuned according to several design criteria such as maneuverability and vibration attenuation. However, except for assistance acceptability, human factors are omitted since torque maps are tuned in a static way. The presence of human-in-the-loop must be studied in depth, and dynamic assistance laws should be proposed by considering driver capabilities. To evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of future assistance control, an experimentation tool must be designed. In fact, real race experimentations are often labored, particularly when involving drivers with physical disabilities. Therefore, the use of a simulation test bed seems to be an interesting alternative [1]. In this eld, multiple low-cost simulators have emerged in the last decade [2], [3]; only reduced-version EPS simulators are designed, and most of them were built by industrial institutions [4][8]. In this perspective, one of the objectives of the A N R1 VOL H AND2 project is to design a simulation tool that includes a real EPS system that is as close as possible to a real vehicle-steering system. A driving simulator consists of an instrumented mechanical platform, ensuring permanent communication between the driver and the simulator software. Nevertheless, some variables cannot be directly accessed or measured. Consequently, virtual sensors must be developed to measure (or estimate) them. These variables are generally divided into two different parts: 1) system states (such as steering-wheel angle and its rate) and 2) unknown inputs (such as the driver torque or the load rack force). In this area, the problem in designing virtual sensors (observers) has been addressed in several works [9]. Among them, sliding-mode observers (SMOs) have been used for their robustness, insensitivity to the matched perturbations/ uncertainties, and nite/exact time convergence [10], [11]. In its rst version, necessary and sufcient conditions must be fullled, particularly the so-called observer-matching condition. However, this assumption limits the use of these observers for a large range of mechanical systems. This way, the use of a sliding-mode differentiator (SMD) was generalized, and SMOs have been extended to a large range of physical systems [12][15]. Recently, the introduction of the supertwisting algorithm (STA) as an absolutely continuous output injection and the development of high-order SMD (HOSMD) have contributed in estimation enhancement and also in avoiding some technical problems, such as estimate ltration [16], [17].
1 French

2 Steering

National Research Agency. wheel for elderly and/or disabled person.

1524-9050/$31.00 2012 IEEE

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rack system via the ball screw-nut. The simplest way is to convert the screw rotation into a nut translation, where the load motor torque is transmitted to the ball screw-nut via a pulleybelt assembly. The advantage of such a solution is the torque multiplication ratio offered by the pulley-belt system, which makes it possible to choose a quite small load motor. Aside from the mechanical platform, the simulator is built around various modules described here. 1) Vehicle dynamics: This is used to predict the kinematic and dynamic behavior of a vehicle according to driver actions. Its complexity relates more to the front-wheel assembly, where the main input is the rack displacement (see Section III-E). The outputs of the front-wheel assembly are, in one part, the tire steer/effort used to update vehicle motion states (see Section III-B) and, in another part, the reference load rack force to be restituted on the simulators rack via the load motor (see Section III-D). 2) Visual/trafc environment: This aims to provide a realistic simulation of road situations, starting from the individual drivers behavior. The objective is to immerse the driver in realistic trafc conditions [18]. This module uses, in part, the vehicle motion states computed from the virtual vehicle module and a visual environment for projection. 3) Low-level management: This is managed by an operating system with a real-time kernel on a target personal computer (PC). Different control algorithms are carried out by a standard host PC tted with an adequate communication protocol. Otherwise, this module also deals with input/output acquisition and data processing, which governs different actuators. 4) Virtual sensors: Load rack force and driver torque are two essential quantities for EPS control feedback design. Unfortunately, it is difcult to measure these variables for cost or complexity reasons, with appropriate sensors. Fortunately, state observation and unknown input estimation are a very active research eld that offers efcient methods to build virtual sensors (see Section IV). This module takes the rack displacement from the vehicle module, the driver-steering measurement, and the EPS current from the EPS torque control component. As outputs, it gives estimations of the load rack force applied by the load motor and the driver torque applied on the steering wheel. 5) Load torque control module: Its input is the reference load rack force, as computed by the front assembly model, and the estimated load rack force from the virtual sensor block. This module aims to generate an adequate reference current, by a given control feedback method, to drive the load motor torque. 6) EPS torque control module: Synthesizing a control feedback strategy intended to assist a given driver is the main objective for designing such test bed and constitutes the nality of the ongoing project. More information about this module can be found in [19][21]. In the next section, an overview of the vehicle dynamics is introduced with special care to the front assembly modeling.

Fig. 1.

Mechatronics of the simulator and adopted mechanical architectures.

The main purpose of this paper is to describe an EPS test bed with its overall virtual prototyping. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section II exposes some propositions to design an EPS simulator with involved components. A modeling technique to evaluate tire kinematics and the load rack force from tire/road contact is detailed in Section III. In Section IV, an estimation procedure is illustrated based on SMOs to virtually measure the rack load force and the driver torque. Finally, the last section provides simulations and discussions by considering different case studies. II. O UTLINES ON THE P ROPOSED T EST-B ED S YSTEM In a driving simulator, the driver is placed within several devices that transform his control inputs into stimuli that can be perceived, if correctly interpreted, by the proprioceptive sensors. In this regard, the design of a simulator for steering evaluation and control requires fair torque feedback. This torque is a result of the tire/road contact propagated from the steering mechanical system to the driver steering wheel. For an EPS-like pinion type, the mechanical platform includes a real EPS [steering wheel, steering column, pinion assistance motor, and rack (see Fig. 1)]. In addition, an electrical motor and a ball screw-nut assembly are expected for load rack force restitution. Since the overall EPS system is mechanically well dened, there is great effort in nding the minimum mechanical clearance to link the load motor to the

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given by (henceforth, all vectors are expressed in unless otherwise stated) r vi = r vb + r bq + R,, r i qi

reference (1)

where r vb , r bq , and r i qi are known vectors, and R,, = R R R is the rotation matrix transformation. Furthermore, the steering axis r qc is given by r qc = r bc r bq = R, r i qc i i ri qc = r qh + r hc . From (2), we can write the following expression:
Fig. 2. Front assembly (sketched from [22]).
i i RT r qc = R r qh + r hc

(2)

(3)

III. V IRTUAL V EHICLE AND S IMULATOR M ODELING A. Modeling Assumptions In this study, a car vehicle dynamics model is considered, allowing the simulation of ve degrees of freedom, i.e., longitudinal and lateral displacement, roll, pitch, and yaw rotations [22]. In normal driving situations, particularly at low speed and parking maneuver, the driver needs to be more assisted. Under these driving conditions, the vehicle shows smooth dynamics with moderate accelerations and low-frequency content [23]. Furthermore, nonlinear terms can be neglected, and the use of a simplied vehicle dynamics model is admissible. However, at parking maneuvers, the steer angle and the load torque applied on the steering system rack may be important. For this, special focus must be brought in the description of front assembly kinematics. For the simulator modeling, a reduced-order model of an EPS system is considered, which transcribes a nominal dynamic behavior expressed by fundamental frequency below 30 Hz. Higher frequencies, which result from the vibratory behavior [24], [25], are not considered. It is also supposed that each electric motor is driven by a current signal i. Electrical dynamics is not taken into account since it is largely faster than mechanical dynamics. Moreover, the transformation of the current signal to an equivalent voltage input is ensured by the low-level current control loop implemented in the electronic hardware. B. Geometry of the Front Wheel Assembly The front assembly is composed of several parts, including the wheel rim, wheel tire, steering arm, steering rack, lower suspension arm, and suspension shock absorber (see Fig. 2). In free motion, the wheel geometric conguration can be characterized by three Euler rotations with respect to the vehicle reference frame v : rotation around iv , rotation around the resulting j -axis, and steering rotation around vector q c. The suspension travel occurs along the unit vector ehc , and its effect on the wheel steering is neglected. From this assumption, we consider that the rotation of the lower suspension arm 0. Let i be the wheel mass center, at which a right-handed axis reference frame i is attached (i for the left/right wheel). In the vehicle reference frame v , the wheel mass center position is

which represents an algebraic constraint with respect to the two independent variables and . It remains to nd the steering angle from the rack displacement by considering the geometric constraint r f w = lb (the steering arm length is constant); then
2 rT f w r f w = lb

(4)

where, from Fig. 2, we have r f w = r qw Rvi r i qf . Substituting this equation into (4) and after some algebraic manipulations, we get
i 2 iT i T 2r T qw Rvi r qf = lb r qf r qf r qw r qw .

(5)

Knowing that rotation steering R transformation is given by

iT i iT qc sin R = ei qc eqc + I3 eqc eqc cos + e

(6)

and reporting (6) in (5), we get a trigonometric equation of the form a1 cos + a2 sin = a3 i iT i a1 = r T qw R I3 eqc eqc r qf qc r i a2 = r T qw R e qf 1 2 iT i T i iT i l r qf r qf r T a3 = qw r qw + r qw R, eqc eqc r qf (7) 2 b which can be solved for variable . Now, it is possible to compute some wheels geometric variables. As shown in Fig. 3, camber angle and the effective tire steer e can be derived and given by the following expressions: sin = j T i kT , C. Tire/Road Effort Tire/road interaction is the most important phenomena that characterize ground vehicles. Consequently, several works are undertaken, leading to a mathematical description of friction forces. In this paper, the tire/road contact is dot shaped at point C , where an effort vector including the longitudinal force Fx = Fx (), the lateral force Fy = Fy (, ), and the vertical force Fz is introduced by using an empirical tire model named Pacejka [26], with respect to the tire slip variables (, ) and camber angle . sin e = jT i iT . T ji jT (8)

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Fig. 3.

Tire reference frame and camber (sketched from [22]).

At rst, to describe the tire/road interaction, a new reference frame T is introduced at contact point C . kT is the normal vector to the road surface. Vector iT is obtained by iT = j i kT , and j T completes the right-handed reference axis. To derive the load force applied on the steering system rack, it is more convenient to express the equivalent tire forces/moments wrench at the center of wheel i, instead of the tire/road contact point C ; hence F T = Fx i T + Fy j T + Fz k T M T = Mx iT + My j T + Mz kT + F T r Ci (9)

Fig. 4. Dynamics scheme of the EPS system without the load motor.

where r bw = r bw,0 + ur j v . By differentiating this equation, we get wf . r ey,v + r vb r bq + vi r qf = u (13)

where Mx is the tire torque about iT , My is the rolling resistance torque, and Mz = Mz (, ) is the alignment torque. D. Load Rack Force At present, all wheel kinematic variables and the equivalent tire forces/moments wrench at the wheel center are dened. Obviously, the next step concerns the calculation of load force F r applied on the steering system rack. By using the virtual power equilibrium [22], the power delivered by the tire/road effort F T /M T is equal to the power delivered by the rack force Fr ; then PF r = PF T /M T T Fr u r = v T vi F T + vi M T (10)

By using the geometric constraint (4), the projection of (13) on the vector r wf yields rT wf ey,v . = T u r r wf (eqc r qf ) (14)

Nevertheless, while performing a parking maneuver, the tire side-slip angle () is quasi-null, whereas experimentations showed that the load torque is increasingly important, particularly while stopping [27]. To simulate such situations, an efcient algorithm is described in [28], where the tire hysteresis behavior is well modeled. E. Simulator Dynamics As stated in Section II, the simulator includes a real EPS system and an electrical motor for load rack force restitution. To model the whole assembly, let us consider rst the steering column dynamics (see Fig. 4) given by the following equation: c + c c = Td Tcc Jc (15)

where ur is the rack displacement, and v vi and vi are the linear and angular velocity vectors of the wheel center i with respect to the vehicle reference origin v , respectively. By using r , (10) becomes the Jacobian vectors x = ( x/ u r )u
T vT vi vi Fr = FT + MT . u r u r

(11) where c is the steering-wheel angle, Td is the steering-wheel torque applied by the driver, and Tcc is the transmitted torque via the EPS torque sensor modeled as Tcc = Kc c ur rp . (16)

Afterward, to dene the Jacobian vectors, it is necessary to compute the linear and angular velocities of wheel center i. By differentiating (1), we yield vi vi v vi = r qi , = eqc . (12) u r u r u r u r u Finally, to nd ( / r ), we consider the two geometric loops (rbf) and (rwf). From these loops, the position vector r bf can be expressed as r bf = r bq + r qf = r bw + r wf

Here, ur is the rack displacement, and rp is the pinion radius. Next, the EPS electric motor is located between the pinion and the rack. Its mechanical equation is expressed as follows: a + a a = Ta Tcm Ja (17)

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The next section concerns the development of virtual sensors for unknown input estimation (for both rack load force Fr and driver torque Td ). This will be achieved by introducing the SMO theory. IV. S LIDING -M ODE O BSERVER D ESIGN FOR S TATES AND U NKNOWN I NPUT E STIMATION
Fig. 5. Dynamics scheme of the load motor.

where a is the motor rotation angle, Ta = kt,a ia is the motordelivered torque, and Tcm is the transmitted torque to the rack via the EPS gears. Finally, the rack dynamics is given as mr u r + r u r = 1 Na Tcc + Tcm Fr . rp rp (18)

The rack displacement and the EPS motor rotation are related by ur = (rp /Na )a . From (17) and (18), the EPS motor/rack equivalent dynamics is r + eq u r = meq u Kc rp c ur rp + Na kt,a ia Fr . (19) rp

In this section, an application of a class of SMO developed in [17] is presented. In this class, and due to the STA, the discontinuous output injection is replaced by a continuous output injection, which allows avoiding ltration of the estimated states and unknown inputs. In addition, unlike other SMOs (such as Walcott-Zak), the matching condition is not required, which makes the use of this type of observation technique more suitable, particularly for high-order systems. However, it requires the boundedness of the unknown inputs and also their successive derivatives, where the Walcott-Zak observer is less restrictive. Fortunately, in mechanical system applications, the boundedness of the two rst derivatives is an acceptable assumption. A. Assumptions Assume a linear time-invariant system (20) with n states, m measurable outputs, and m unknown inputs, and consider the following denitions [17], [29]: Denition 4.1: The relative degree of system (20) output vector y with respect to unknown input vector is vector [r1 , . . . , rm ], such that Ci As Dj = 0, and Ci Ar1 1 D . . rank(Q) = rank(D), Q= (25) . r2 1 D Ci A where i, j = 1, . . . , m, s = 0, . . . , ri 2, Ci is the ith line of matrix C, and Dj is the j th column of matrix D. Denition 4.2: The total relative degree of system output vector (20) with respect to the unknown inputs vector is the scalar r = i ri , where i = 1, . . . , m. Denition 4.3: System (20) is strongly observable if and only if the total relative degree r is equal to the rank of observability matrix P, i.e., C1 C1 A . . . C1 An1 . . . (26) P= . Cm Cm A . . . Cm An1 Remark 4.1: The matching condition of the Walcott-Zak observer (rank(CD) = rank(D)) [30] is a special case of the strong observability concept. As shown in (25), the matching condition implies that there must be as many independent outputs as unknown inputs, and the relative degree vector of

By combining (15), (16), and (19), the EPS steering system dynamics can be written as a linear state space formulation as follows: = Ax + Bia + D x y = Cx (20) (21)

c , c , u r , ur ]T is the state vector, ia is the input where x = [ EPS motor-delivered current, = [Td , Fr ]T is a vector of additional unknown inputs, and y = [c , ur ]T is the vector of the measured outputs. At this stage, it remains to integrate the dynamics of the load motor part to complete the simulator modeling (see Fig. 5). As before, the mechanical equations of the load motor and the screw-nut are described by l + l l = Tl Tlc Jl s + s s = Nl Tlc + p Fr Js 2

(22)

where l and s are the load motor and the screw-nut angle positions, respectively, and Tl = kt,l il is the motor-delivered torque. On the other hand, l , s , and the rack displacement ur are related to the EPS motor angle a by the following relations: 2 1 Na ur = s = l , a = ur . p Nl rp By reporting these relations in (22) and combining the resulting expression with (19), we get the equivalent dynamics of the assistance motor/rack/screw-nut/load motor assembly p r + eq u r = Nl kt,l il + (Tcc + Na kt,a ia ). (23) meq u 2rp Finally, with (15), the overall EPS simulator dynamics can be expressed by the following linear state space formulation: = As x + Bs [ Td x ia il ] T . (24)

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Fig. 6.

Virtual simulator used for simulations.

each output with respect to the unknown inputs vector is equal to or less than two. From these denitions, the EPS output vector y = [c , ur ]T in (20) has a relative degree vector [r1 , r2 ] = [2, 2] with respect to the unknown input vector = [Td , Fr ]T ; then, the total relative degree r = 4 is equal to the system state order n (or equal to the rank of the observability matrix). Hence, system (20) is strongly observable. In addition, system (20) satises the following two assumptions [17], which makes the reconstruction of unknown input vector possible: 1) Each unknown input i of is a bounded function, where |i | i,max . (The applied driver torque and the rack load force are obviously bounded by |Td | Tmax and |Fr | Fmax .) 2) The k successive derivatives of i are bounded by the same constant i , and the (k + 1)th derivative is a Lipschitzian function. As a reminder, we consider k = 1. B. Observer Equations Since the observability condition is fullled, matrix L can be arbitrarily chosen such that A LC is Hurwitz, and the observer is built in the form = Az + Bia + L(y Cz ) z = z + P 1 x

in which i = 1, 2, Mi is chosen to be sufciently large from denition (4.1), and the two previous assumptions are chosen to be Mi |CAri 1 D|i,max . Finally, the unknown input vector is estimated using = {PD}1 P(A LC)P1 (29)

where = [v1,r1 +1 , v2,r2 +1 ] (or = [v1,3 , v2,3 ]). Remark 4.2: Matrix A in (20) has one eigenvalue on the imaginary axis ([-4.3008 75.9311j, 7.8013, +28E-15]); then, system (20) needs to be stabilized and damped by introducing L(y Cz ). Since (20) is strongly observable, an arbitrary eigenvalue assignment can be made to design matrix L. Nevertheless, the new system eigenvalue should be chosen, reducing the system damping. V. S IMULATION R ESULTS A. Simulation Conguration Hereafter, two case studies are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms: 1) parking case maneuver and 2) cornering driving maneuver by using a virtual platform (see Fig. 6), including the vehicle dynamics, the simulator model (24), and its associated virtual sensors. In addition, load torque feedback control is implemented by using a proportional-integral (PI) controller, considering reference load rack force Fr , as computed in Section III-D, and the estimated r . The PI controller output is a reference load rack force F current signal il , which is converted to a voltage signal to actuate the load motor. Moreover, the present simulation is undertaken for the limit case where the load rack force is at its maximum; for this, the motor assistance is disabled. In the following, the RungeKutta four-integration method is adopted. The virtual vehicle model is updated at each 10 ms. The load rack force PI control is carried out at a sampling rate of 1 ms. For the observer part, the following initial conditions are 0 = [0, 0.5, 0, 0.005]T , and integration of the supposed to be x observer equations is done at a 5-ms sampling rate. In addition, no ltration is introduced on the estimated variables.

(27)

where = [v1,1 , . . . , v1,r1 , v2,1 , . . . , v2,r2 ]T , in which vector components are extracted from vector v 1 = [v1,1 , . . . , v1,r ]T and vector v 2 = [v2,1 , . . . , v2,r ]T . Vectors v 1 and v 2 are the nonlinear parts of the observer chosen in the form of the (r + k 1)th-order differentiator [31], as follows: v i,1 = 3Mi4 |vi,1 yi + Ci z | 4 sign (vi,1 yi + Ci z ) + vi,2 v i,2 = 2Mi3 |vi,2 v i,1 | 3 sign(vi,2 v i,1 ) + vi,3 v i,3 = 1.5Mi |vi,3 v i,2 | 2 sign(vi,3 v i,2 ) + vi,4 v i,4 = 1.1Mi sign(vi,4 v i,3 ) (28)
1 2 1 1 2 1 3

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Fig. 7. Parking maneuver case. (a) Tire steer angle e with respect to the rack displacement ur . (b) Tire camber angle with respect to ur . (c) Reference driver torque Td and simulated driver torque Tcc with respect to the steering-wheel angle c .

Fig. 8. State and unknown input estimation for the parking maneuver case with nominal parameters. (a) Driver torque Td and load rack force Fr . (b) and (c) System states. (d)(f) Convergence of unknown input and state estimation.

B. Case 1: Parking Maneuver In the rst scenario, the driver performs two steering-wheel turns at stop in both left and right sense. Fig. 7(a) and (b) shows the left and right tire steer and camber angles with respect to the rack displacement, respectively. From these gures, it is shown that the tire steer and camber angles are quite different for large rack displacement. This is typical for urban driving situations with small road curvature and low forward speed. Furthermore, for the highway driving situation, the two angles slightly evolved in the same way. In Fig. 7(c), the reference driver torque with respect to the steering-wheel angle is depicted, as well as the simulated driver torque (Tcc ). It is clear that the torque sensor provided with the EPS system gives only an approximation of the real driver torque. This is consistent with the static way in which the EPS boost map is tuned. In this paper, we seek more precise information of the driver torque, particularly for persons who represent any disability. Otherwise, if the EPS system is

disabled, the high values of the driver torque, such as those in this gure, are justied. The dynamics states and the unknown inputs with their estimations are proposed in Fig. 8, as well as all those for the nominal case (no uncertainties on the simulators model parameters). For noiseless measured signals, an exact estimation is achieved with a nite-time convergent, as shown in Fig. 8(d)(f). To evaluate the robustness of the observer, a second simulation is carried out by considering an uncertainty of 20% on the nominal values of the simulators plant parameters. Fig. 9(a)(d) shows the state and unknown input estimation. For each variable, the estimation error compared to the nominal case is also reported. Here, the observer ensures accurate estimation with asymptotic convergence for almost all variables. Finally, an additive white noise is considered on the measured system outputs to test the observers ability to deal with stochastic perturbations. Fig. 8(e) and (f) shows that the unknown inputs are correctly estimated with asymptotic convergence and

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Fig. 9. State and unknown input estimation for the parking maneuver case with perturbations. (a) Driver torque and load rack force estimations with 20% parameter uncertainties. (b) Driver torque and load rack force estimation errors. (c) and (d) System state estimation errors. (e) and (f) Driver torque and load rack force estimations and their convergence in the presence of measurement noises.

Fig. 10. Real vehicle experimentation conditions. (a) Road path. (b) Lane curvature. (c) Vehicle forward speed.

all those with no ltration. Moreover, it is possible to enhance observer performance against measurement noises by tuning parameters Mi in the HOSMD equation (28). Fortunately, the use of a digital encoder and a controller area network bus for motor angle position measurement and acquisition considerably limits the measured signal noises. C. Case 2: Cornering Maneuver The second scenario aims to test the virtual platform behavior for a full track road including several cornering maneuvers. This simulation is realized by employing data records including experimental measurements carried out by a real car vehicle on a real track road shown in Fig. 10(a). Next, a driver model is integrated to generate a driver torque Td according to the measured steering-wheel angle c , the lane curvature [see Fig. 10(b)], and the vehicle forward speed [see Fig. 10(c)] [32]. In addition, an uncertainty of 20% on the nominal parameters of the used system model (24) is considered. Once again, it can be seen in Fig. 11 that the unknown inputs are accurately reconstructed after convergence of the system

states. A closer look of the estimated variables is also depicted, where an asymptotic convergence is ensured for both states and unknown inputs (see Table I). VI. C ONCLUSION In this paper, full prototyping of a virtual electrical powersteering test bed has been described. Some design propositions and the overall simulator mechatronics, arising from the driving simulation, have been exposed. Two main contributions are well detailed: 1) a modeling technique to evaluate the front assembly kinematics and the load rack force from tire/road interaction and 2) the design of virtual sensors for the dynamics states and unknown input estimation based on the sliding-mode theory. To prove the efciency of each contribution, two case studies have been illustrated in the last section for two different driving scenarios. The rst case study deals with a stopping parking maneuver to highlight some geometric and dynamic features of the front assembly. This scenario is well suitable for such

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Fig. 11. Unknown input estimation. (a) Driver torque. (b) Load rack force. (c) Steering-wheel angle and rack position. TABLE I A BBREVIATIONS , N OTATION , AND N UMERICAL VALUES

validation since the driver, in that case, needs to be assisted more. The second scenario describes full road track driving by using experimental measurements.

A PPENDIX
2 2 2 2 In (19), meq = mr +(Na /rp )Ja , and eq = r +(Na /rp )a ; 2 in (23) meq = (p/2 )meq + (2/p)(Js + Nl Js ), and eq = (p/2 )eq + (2/p)(s + Nl2 s ). In addition, we have
c c K Jc Jc 1 0 A= Kc 0 rp meq 0 0 0 0 B= a r N p meq 0

meq eq

0 0 1

Kc rp Jc

0
c r2K p meq

1 0 Jc 0 0 D= 0 1 meq 0 0 c c K 0 Jc Jc 1 0 0 As = pKc 0 meq 2rp meq eq 0 0 1 1 0 0 Jc 0 0 0 Bs = Nl kt,l pNa kt,a 0 0 2rp meq meq 0 0

Kc rp Jc

0
pKc 2r 2 p meq

0 .

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R EFERENCES
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Lamri Nehaoua received the B.S. degree in engineering on control and automation systems science from the University of Stif, Stif, Algeria, in 1999, the M.S. degree in computer vision for robotics applications from Clermont-Ferrand II University, Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 2002, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Evry Val dEssonne, Evry, France, in 2008. He currently holds a postdoctoral position with the Informatics, Integrative Biology and Complex Systems Laboratory, University of Evry. His research interests are driving simulators, driver assistance, modeling, control, and observation of complex systems.

Mohamed Djema received the Ph.D. degree in automatic control from the University Paris Sud-Orsay, France, in 1995. From 2000 to 2008, he was an Associate Professor in automatic control with the Ecole Nationale Suprieur de lElectronique et de Ses Applications (ENSEA), Cergy, France. In 2008, he became a Full Professor with the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrsis, Valenciennes, France, where he is also currently with the Industrial and Human Automation Control, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences Laboratory (CNRS UMR 8201). His research interests are hybrid systems, sliding-mode control and observers, fault detection, and residual generation, with application to power systems and automotive control.

Philippe Pudlo was born in France in 1970. He received the Ph.D. degree in industrial and human automation from the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrsis, Valenciennes, France, in 1999. He is currently a Full Professor with the Industrial and Human Automation Control, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences Laboratory (LAMIH, CNRS UMR 8201), University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrsis. Since 2009, he has coordinated the A N R VOL H AND Project, whose aim is to develop personalized electric power steering adapted for people with reduced mobility. His current research interests include biomechanics, modeling and simulation, ergonomics, and the handicapped.