Caravan Active Braking System- Effective Stabilisation of Snaking of Combination Vehicles

The paper is a theoretical study of the design, effectiveness and implementation of a differential braking system for caravans and other trailers - Caravan Active Braking System (CABS). The system addresses the common problem of snaking at moderate to high road speeds. The idea developed is to utilise measurements of the relative yaw angle between car and caravan to motivate individual trailer brake actuation -one brake at a time- with magnitude and phasing chosen to damp the snaking motions. Linear and non-linear system models are developed, allowing control design by root locus techniques and evaluation by simulation. Stabilisation of the snaking is demonstrated. Robustness against usage variations is checked. Component needs are similar to those for contemporary traction control and stability enhancement systems.