Dynamic coordinated control of a downhill safety assistance system for hybrid electric buses

Abstract

When driving downhill, downhill safety assistance control can ensure a safe speed. A downhill safety assistance system was developed by our research group to help hybrid electric vehicles to maintain a stable speed when driving downhill. For hybrid electric buses, in addition to the pneumatic braking system, the motor can quickly provide an electrical braking torque, and the engine can be considered a mechanical brake. The downhill safety assistance system for hybrid electric buses maintains the desired downhill speed on different road slopes. However, when and how to activate or deactivate the downhill safety assistance system because of the driver’s operation or the road conditions was not discussed in combination with the energy management strategy for the vehicle. Additionally, there is currently no dynamic control strategy for the transition process when the braking modes of the downhill safety assistance system change, which can lead to instability. To address the limitations of previous studies, a dynamic coordinated control strategy of the downhill safety assistance system is proposed considering practical application, which focuses on the above two aspects to keep the entire system stable. To improve the ride comfort and the vehicle safety when the downhill safety assistance system works in conjunction with the energy management strategy for the vehicle, the proposed control strategy is developed to activate or deactivate the downhill safety assistance system based on the driver’s driving habits and operation and the road conditions in order to reduce the workload and to improve the driveability of the buses. To maintain the ride comfort during the transient process of shift in the braking mode and to maintain a stable speed over the overall course, the mode-shift coordinated control strategy of the downhill safety assistance system is presented, which combines the braking modes to ensure that the braking torque changes steadily without saltation. The experimental results validate the performance of the entire dynamic coordinated control strategy of the downhill safety assistance system with a high stability, and the statistics demonstrate that the downhill safety assistance system obviously improves the fuel economy and reduces the driver workload.

Keywords

Downhill safety assistance system hybrid electric buses dynamic coordinated control strategy vehicle safety fuel economy driver workload

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