Longitudinal and yaw stability control of distributed drive vehicles under low adhesion conditions based on MPC and trigger mechanism

This paper proposes a longitudinal and yaw stability control strategy based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) with a trigger mechanism for distributed drive vehicles, taking into consideration the instability and poor handling performance on low-adhesion road surfaces. First, the control strategy adopts a hierarchical control architecture, where the upper-level controller consists of a yaw moment controller and a longitudinal speed controller, while the lower-level controller includes a torque distribution module and a slip ratio regulator. Second, a slip ratio regulator is designed based on optimal slip ratio estimation for the road surface, ensuring that the vehicle maximizes the utilization of available adhesion force from the road, thereby preventing instability caused by excessive slip. Third, an MPC-based yaw stability control and slip ratio adjustment strategy, utilizing a trigger mechanism, is proposed. This strategy evaluates the current state of the vehicle to determines when to trigger the controller, thus reducing the computational load required for control. Finally, offline simulation tests are conducted using a vehicle’s dynamics model. The results shows that the proposed control strategy is robust and effective.