Nonlinear Tire Force Estimation and Road Friction Identification: Simulation and Experiments ,

This paper applies extended Kalman-Bucy filtering (EKBF) and Bayesian hypothesis selection to estimate motion, tire forces, and road coefficient of friction (μ) of vehicles on asphalt surfaces. The EKBF estimates the state and tire forces of an eight-degree-of-freedom vehicle from vehicle-mounted sensors. The filter requires no a priori knowledge of μ and does not require a tire force model. Resulting force, slip, and slip angle estimates are compared statistically with those that result from a nominal analytic tire model to select the most likely μ from a set of hypothesized values. The methods have application to both off-line construction of tire models and development of vehicle control systems that require μ. Both simulation results and results of applying estimation methods to field test data are presented. Simulation results show excellent convergence and accuracy of μ estimates, and results of processing field test data demonstrate the ability to construct useful tire models. Computation and sensor requirements, and robustness of the μ identification algorithm are considered. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.