Robust Wheel Speed Control of Electric Vehicles with Respect to Backlash and Dead-time in Powertrains

The primary advantage of electric vehicles (EVs) lies in their rapid and precise torque generation. Consequently, the research and development of traction control systems that ensure safety, stability, and reliability in EVs are becoming increasingly popular. In this paper, an analysis of the wheel-speed control of an EV under various operating conditions is presented. A double-loop cascade disturbance observer (DOB) was designed to estimate the wheel speed from the estimation of the total disturbance acting on the vehicle. The influence of gear backlash, torque delay, air drag, and road inclination were analyzed to investigate the effectiveness of the control system. The preliminary Matlab simulation analysis demonstrated that the DOB-based control design was effective and robust to the effects of external disturbances.