Variable structure robust <i>H</i> ∞ fault-tolerant control for distributed drive electric vehicle

The failure probability of electric vehicle increases with the increment of actuator motors, especially for distributed-drive electric vehicles (DDEVs). To address the issue of vehicle safety in the event of faults occurring in DDEVs drive motors, a novel variable-structure robust H ∞ fault-tolerant control method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a dynamic model of DDEVs incorporating parameter uncertainty is developed, which takes into account multiple types of faults in drive motors. Then, a fault-tolerant controller is designed comprising a passive robust H ∞ controller (PRHC) and a variable structure robust H ∞ fault-tolerant controller (VSRHFTC). In order to ensure the closed-loop system satisfying the specified anti-interference attenuation coefficient, the linear matrix inequality and the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="bold-italic">υ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> -gap metric are utilized for controller’s solution and as the basis of controller switching, respectively. Finally, the efficacy of the controller is validated through Simulink-Carsim co-simulation and hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The simulation results demonstrate that the designed controller significantly enhances vehicle stability and exhibits commendable fault tolerance capability.