Jackknife Avoidance in Large Trucks Using Active Front Steering

Active Front Steering (AFS) systems have recently been introduced for passenger vehicles to improve handling stability under adverse road conditions. AFS provides a mechanism to augment the steering angle with a small displacement actuator. In this configuration, the steering angle of the front wheels is the combined input of the handwheel with an additional small angle component from an electronically controlled actuator. This paper investigates AFS for large trucks to assist in avoiding jackknife conditions. Emphasis is given to design aspects to minimize the tendency of AFS systems to interfere with the driver's perception of the vehicle responsiveness.