Development of a Common Vehicle Model for Chassis Control Design

One problem with a large company with numerous engineering sites is the problem of re-inventing the wheel. Within the engineering organization several vehicle models may be developed independently even though one would suffice. This paper discusses a model that has been developed jointly by groups at three separate locations to replace all similar models used at those locations. This will allow resources to be used more efficiently and provide a common ground for control algorithm development.

This model has been designed to be able to run in several different environments with minimal overhead. These environments include the dSpace rapid prototyping tool, Simulink^®, PC, and the Applied Dynamics real time system (ADRTS). It also is very modular to allow for easy integration with other systems and to support open architecture. Uses of the model include hardware in the loop, controller in the loop and pure simulation. The components of the model are tire, powertrain, steering, brake, suspension environment, driver response, brake control algorithm and suspension control algorithm modules.