Influence of a reconfigurable wheelbase on lateral vehicle dynamics

This thesis describes the concept of a reconfigurable wheelbase for a car as a way to improve agility at higher velocities. Altering the longitudinal position of each wheel with respect to the centre of gravity, leads to a change in lateral wheel forces. This affects the car's yaw rate, therefore making it possible to influence its agility....

Using Model Predictive Control on a Steer-by-Wire Bicycle for Performance Assistance

Bicycle safety is quickly becoming an increasingly important field as the number of electric bicycles on the streets grows faster each year. E-bikes are able to accelerate quicker and travel at faster speeds than conventional bicycles, increasing the severity of injuries in case of an accident. There are a number of ways to improve safety, such...

Comfort-Oriented Motion Planning Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

Motion sickness is a common phenomenon, with close to two-thirds of the population experiencing it in their lifetime. With the advent of automated vehicles in the market, it is anticipated to become an even greater problem as the passengers face a lack of predictability of motion and loss of control over the vehicle. This could nullify the host...

The effect of vehicle parameter variation on drift equilibria points

A vehicle that is travelling at high sideslip angles can still be controlled by drifting. Implemented into a vehicle, this phenomenon could lead to increased vehicle safety and performance. Additionally, it could lead to higher acceptance rates of autonomous driving.<br/>In this work a three state vehicle model is used. Using this model,...

Analysing the Relation Between Gaze Location and Gap Acceptance Decisions During Highway Merges

Background: Merging on a highway is a complex driving task that requires a lot of interaction with other road users. During these tasks, a driver is required to evaluate gaps in space and time between the themselves and other road users and obstacles in order to arrive at the right moment to merge onto the highway. To improve safety and increase...

A Real-Time Rollover Prevention MPC Controller With a Predictive Load Transfer Ratio

Over the past few decades vehicles have become more safe than ever. Not only has the chassis design improved substantially, the addition of things such as airbags and seat belts has significantly reduced the fatality rate of passengers involved in traffic accidents. A more recent development are driver assistance systems such as the anti-lock...

Trailer Sway Stabilization by Active Control of the Towing Vehicle

A combination vehicle system consists of a lead vehicle that powers the motion, and one or more trailers that are towed by the lead vehicle. Any such vehicle system is unstable due to the presence of a coupling joint that disconnects the driver from the trailer. The risk of an accident is increased since many trailer parameters are variable and...

Adaptation of a non-linear controller based on Reinforcement Learning

Closed-loop control systems, which utilize output signals for feedback to generate control inputs, can achieve high performance. However, robustness of feedback control loops can be lost if system changes and uncertainties are too large. Adaptive control combines the traditional feedback structure with providing adaptation mechanisms that adjust...