Design Evolution of Vehicle Dynamics and Controls from Mechanization, Electrification to Autonomy

Optimal Vehicle Dynamics is one of the key metrics that all Vehicle Manufacturers strive to achieve. The metrics vary from customer to customer and vehicle to vehicle. The vehicle dynamics represent the DNA of the car and the manufacturer. The challenge with the current state of pre-autonomy always is to achieve the state of vehicle dynamics that delivers stability/safety yet the responsiveness needed. In addition, there are always tradeoffs between ride/NVH and handling, where vehicle manufacturers end up sacrificing one for the other. The paper establishes the baseline of electrification advantages to address the past vehicle dynamics challenges and then discusses how the traditional vehicle dynamics design and metrics will evolve as the vehicle architecture migrates from mechanization/electrification to level 4/5 Autonomy. Customer preferences and demands will change with Autonomy.