Justification principles of movement stabilization of an articulated electric bus with a rear pushing section

Introduction (statement of the problem and relevance). Currently, the need for intra-city passenger transportation is becoming more acute. High-capacity and electric buses, including articulated and double-decker ones, have proven their efficiency both in Russia and abroad and are widespread. The fact is especially important for the cities that do not have a network of high-speed transport. As a result, in these cities the passenger traffic load falls on ground transport, the main type of which is a bus or an electric bus.

The purpose of the study was to increase the stability of an articulated electric bus with a rear pushing section in motion introducing an elastic-damping connection in the articulation unit.

Methodology and research methods. Simulation modeling methods were used.

Scientific novelty and results. It was shown that the stable movement of an articulated electric bus with a rear driving axle could be ensured by introducing an elastic-damping connection in the coupling device. The damping coefficient must be variable and dependent on the folding sections angle of the electric bus. A hydraulic system scheme for an electric bus coupling was proposed, consisting of two hydraulic cylinders, a hydraulic accumulator and spool devices, which ensured the creation of an elastic-damping connection between the sections. The differential equations analysis of the front section motion showed that its rectilinear motion was unstable. To ensure the stability of its movement in the electric bus articulation, it was necessary to create an elastic restoring moment directed against the folding sections angle. Curvilinear movement of the rear section was stable.

Practical significance. It has been established that the introduction of variable throttling in the sections folding system of an articulated electric bus with a rear pushing section increases the stability of its movement when making a “turn” maneuver on supporting surfaces with low grip properties.

1. Zhan W., Liu C., Chan C.-Y., Tomizuka M. A Non-Conservatively Defensive Strategy for Urban Autonomous Driving. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016, pp. 459-464.

2. Zhileykin M., Skotnikov G. The method of increasing the stability of trailer-trucks in case of emergency braking in a turn and emergency failure of the trailer brake system / IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 820, Design Technologies for Wheeled and Tracked Vehicles (MMBC) 2019 1-2 October 2019. Moscow, Russian Federation, 2019. DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/820/1/012017.

3. Kotiev G.O., Padalkin B.V., Kartashov A.B., Dya-kov A.S. Designs and development of Russian scientific schools in the field of cross-country ground vehicles building. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2017, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 1064-1071.

4. Paden B., Cap M., Yong S.Z., Yershov D., Frazzo-li E. A Survey of Motion Planning and Control Techniques for Self-driving Urban Vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, 2016, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 33-55.

5. Qian X., Fortelle A. de La, Moutarde F. A Hierarchical Model Predictive Control Framework for On-road Formation Control of Autonomous Vehicles. IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium. Gothenburg, Sweden, 2016, pp. 376-381.

6. Gao Y., Gray A., Tseng H.E., Borrelli F. A tubebased robust nonlinear predictive control approach to semiautonomous ground vehicles. Vehicle System Dynamics, 2014, vol. 52, no. 6, pp 802-823.

7. Laumond J.-P. Feasible trajectories for mobile robots with kinematic and environment constraints. Intelligent Autonomous Systems, An International Conference. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1987, pp. 346-354.

8. Kuwata Y., Karaman S., Teo J., Frazzoli E., How J.P., Fiore G. Real-Time Motion Planning With Applications to Autonomous Urban Driving. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 2009, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 1105-1118.

9. Rajamani R. Vehicle Dynamics and Control. Springer, 2012. 497 p.

10. Coulter R.C. Implementation of the Pure Pursuit Path Tracking Algorithm. Carnegie Mellon University, 1992.

11. Menhour L., d'Andr'ea Novel B., Fliess M., Mou-nier H. Coupled nonlinear vehicle control: Flatness-based setting with algebraic estimation techniques. Control Engineering Practice, 2013, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 135-146.

12. Falcone P., Tufo M., Borrelli F., Asgari J., Tseng H. A linear time varying model predictive control approach to the integrated vehicle dynamics control problem in autonomous systems. 46th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. New Orleans, LA, USA, 2007, pp. 2980-2985.

13. Gao Y., Lin T., Borrelli F., Tseng E., Hrovat D. Predictive Control of Autonomous Ground Vehicles With Obstacle Avoidance on Slippery Roads. ASME Conference Proceedings, 2010, vol. 2010, pp. 265-272.

14. Astrom K.J., Hagglund T. PID Controllers: Theory, Design, and Tuning. Instrument Society of America: Research Triangle Park, 1995.

15. Zhileykin M.M., Eranosyan A.V. Improving Stability and Controllability of Two-Axial Vehicles with a Connectable Front Axle by Redistributing Torque between the Axles. BMSTU Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2018, no. 4 (697), pp. 35-41.

16. Zakin Ya.H. Maneuverability of the car and road train. Moscow: Transport, 1986. 136 p.

17. Alfutov N.A., Kolesnikov K.S. [Stability of movement and balance. Ed. by Kolesnikov K.S.]. Moscow, BSTU Publ., 2003. 256 p. (In Russian)

18. Litvinov A.S., Farobin Ja.E. [Automobile. Performance Theory]. Moscow, Mashinostroenie Publ., 1989. 240 p. (In Russian)

19. Zhilejkin M.M., Kotiev G.O. [Vehicle systems modeling]. Moscow, BSTU Publ., 2020. 239 p. ISBN: 978-5-7038-5351-1. (In Russian)