Applications of Computational Optimal Control to Vehicle Dynamics

Modern vehicle dynamic control systems are based on new types of ac-tuators, such as active steering and active differentials, in order to improve the overall handling performance including stability, responsiveness, and agility. Nu-merical techniques of off-line optimization of vehicle dynamics control variables can conveniently be used to facilitate decisions on optimal actuator configurations and provide guidance for design of realistic, on-line controllers. This paper over-views the previous authors' results of assessment of various vehicle dynamics ac-tuator configurations based on application of a back propagation through time (BPTT) conjugate gradient optimization algorithm. It is then focused on detailed optimization of active front and rear steering control variables for various maneu-vers and design specifications, where a nonlinear programming-based optimiza-tion tool is used.