A Series Elastic Brake Pedal to Preserve Conventional Pedal Feel under Regenerative Braking

We propose a force-feedback brake pedal with series elastic actuation to preserve the conventional brake pedal feel during cooperative regenerative braking. The novelty of the proposed design is due to the deliberate introduction of a compliant element between the actuator and the brake pedal whose deflections are measured to estimate interaction forces and to perform closed-loop force control. Thanks to its series elasticity, the force-feedback brake pedal can utilize robust controllers to achieve high fidelity force control, possesses favorable output impedance characteristics over the entire frequency spectrum, and can be implemented in a compact package using low-cost components. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed series elastic brake pedal have been tested through human subject experiments that evaluate simulated cooperative regenerative braking scenarios with and without pedal feel compensation. The experimental results and responses to the accompanying questionnaire indicate that pedal feel compensation through the series elastic brake pedal can significantly decrease hard braking instances, improving safety and driver experience.