Integrated Control of Propulsion,
Braking and Steering of Long
Modular Heavy Vehicle
Combinations
Jonas Fredriksson
Department of Signals and Systems
Chalmers University of Technology
Department of Signals and Systems

INTEGRATED CONTROL OF PROPULSION, BRAKING AND STEERING
OF LONG MODULAR HEAVY VEHICLE COMBINATIONS
START- AND END DATE: 2011-03-01 – 2016-03-01
PARTNERS: Volvo GTT and Chalmers
PROGRAMME: Fordonsstrategisk Forskning och Innovation (FFI) – Energi
& miljö
BUDGET: 8 985 800 SEK (4 414 250 SEK Energimyndigheten)
PHD STUDENT: Maliheh Sadeghi Kati
Department of Signals and Systems

• Background
• Project status
• Summary/Conclusion
Department of Signals and Systems

Heavy Vehicle Combination Topologies
Conventional vehicle combinations
• Maximum length of 18.75 m
• Maximum weight of 40 tons
• In Europe
Modular vehicle combinations
• Maximum length of 25.25 m
• Maximum weight of 60 tons
• In Sweden and Finland
Prospective modular vehicle combinations
3 of 8
Department of Signals and Systems

• Transport efficiency
> +
1 > 1 + 1
• Environmental impact
< +
1 < 1 + 1
• Safety
=
1 = 1
Department of Signals and Systems

Safety regulations/standards
Today: Prescriptive regulations and standards
Put restrictions on the vehicle design (dimensions and mass) and specifying how the vehicle combinations should look like but not how they should perform on the road.
Proposal: Performance Based Characteristics
• Longitudinal PBCs
– Startability
– Gradeability
– Acceleration capability
–
–
Stopping distance
Down-grade holding
• Lateral PBCs
– Rearward Amplification
– Low Speed Swept Path
– High Speed Transient Offtracking
– High Speed Steady-state Offtracking
– Yaw Damping Ratio
– Straight Line Offtracking
– etc
Department of Signals and Systems

The aim is to study the performance of an A-double combination (double load capacity) compared to an
EU-standard tractor-semitrailer.
Smart dolly:
Department of Signals and Systems

Longitudinal PBCs:
Lateral PBCs:
Department of Signals and Systems

Longitudinal PBCs:
Lateral PBCs:
Department of Signals and Systems

Longitudinal PBCs:
Lateral PBCs:
Department of Signals and Systems

• Framework for evaluating long vehicle combinations, PBCs
– Swedish Transport Adminstration
• Propulsion, Braking and Steering can improve the performance of long vehicle combinations
• Future work:
– Robust control of long vehicle combinations
Department of Signals and Systems

Department of Signals and Systems
jonas.fredriksson@chalmers.se