Robust Control for Automated Clutch of AMT Vehicle

A nonlinear controller for electronically controlled clutches of Automatic Mechanical Transmission (AMT) vehicle is designed based on the variable structure control strategy. During the automatic clutch engagement, influence of dynamic characteristics of clutch on the longitudinal driving comfort and fuel economy of the vehicle is examined and discussed. It is difficult to control the engaging process of the automatic clutch because there exist nonlinearities and uncertainties due to variation of vehicle characteristics, driving condition and the driver's intention. Good performance of the system requires high standards in design of the control system, which are dependent on an accurate model of the dynamic system, a robust controller and so on. In this paper, a nonlinear controller is proposed based on variable structure control (VSC) for the purpose of improving dynamic responses for engagements of the automated clutches at vehicle start-up and shift. Computer simulations are made for the real clutch system and the simulation results show that the present control strategy is characterized by robustness and efficiency in forcing the system motion to track the specified trajectories.