Fractional Controller for Improved Lateral Stability Control Using AFS

This paper investigates a new control scheme based on fractional calculus a fractional order control scheme that improves the lateral stability of articulated vehicles with active front steering for a safe lane change in case of an emergency maneuver. A tractor-trailer model was developed based on the “bicycle model” and then expanded to larger commercial heavy vehicle. To validate the proposed control algorithm, the system is linearized and MATLAB/Simulink simulation is used for the linear/non-linear tractor-trailer dynamic model. Simulation results with varying the tractor-trailer parameters with a side-wind disturbance forces to the trailer demonstrate the robustness of the proposed fractional order control scheme. Overall results confirm that the proposed fractional order controller, improves the tractor-trailer steering response time along with providing side-wind disturbance rejection.