Adaptive Steering Feedback Torque Design and Control for Driver–Vehicle System Considering Driver Handling Properties

Steering feedback torque system, as the joint between the driver and the vehicle, should be well designed to aid driver handling by considering the driver handling properties and the control accuracy and performance of the system. In this paper first, the compensation mechanism of the driver arm for the change of the steering feedback torque is researched. It is found that drivers try to maintain the dynamic properties of the overall driver-vehicle systems as constant as possible by adjusting their arm mechanical characteristics. Moreover, the desired dynamic properties of the overall driver-vehicle system, which include the information of the driver desired handling properties, can be defined as a system transfer function. Second, a novel adaptive steering feedback torque controller is proposed on the basis of the findings. In this controller, the consideration and realization of the desired driver-vehicle dynamic properties are decoupled in the outer and inner control loops. In the outer control loop, a desired steering feedback torque model is identified with consideration of the desired driver-vehicle dynamic properties. In the inner control loop, the identified desired steering feedback torque model is realized using an adaptive neural network algorithm with robust control. In this way, the controller can be easily used by different drivers and applied to different vehicles. The stability of the system with the controller is analyzed. In the end, simulation and experiments are carried out to prove the validity of the proposed controller.