Non-linear skid steering system for 4×4 UGV using fuzzy logic direct yaw moment control

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Head of Automotive Engineering Department, Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

This paper presents a non-linear control system for skid-steered 4×4. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) with an accurate representation of non-linear tire forces. The vehicle body dynamics is represented by three degrees of freedom (DOF) model namely; forward, lateral and yaw movements. Additionally two DOFs are included to represent the angular rotations of both left and right wheels which are rigidly driven by a separate electric motor for each side. The proposed skid steering system is aimed to control both the driving speed and directional movement of the UGV body in order to follow a desired cornering scenario. Based on direct yaw moment control (DYC) method, a non- linear fuzzy logic controller is designed to regulate both the magnitude and direction of the output torque form each motor in-order to minimize the error between the desired and actual values of both yaw rate and side slip angle of the vehicle body. Several numerical simulations are carried out in MATLAB / Simulink environment to examine the fidelity of the proposed control system. The simulation results show the appropriateness of the proposed skid steering control system for the implementation in UGVs to perform prescribed cornering scenarios.

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