Hardware-In-the-Loop with active roll control

Active Roll Control (ARC) is getting one of the most interesting technological innovations in the automotive industry during last years. The paper presents the method adopted by our research group to design Active Roll Control systems for automotive applications. Active Roll Control concept is presented in detail, both from the point of view of the targets and the practical realization. The design process consists of a first part involving the simulation of vehicle dynamics and the evaluation of the effects of the active system, without considering in detail the delays due to the actuation system. The second step of the process consists in simulating in detail the actuation system for ARC, by giving origin to a co-simulation between the same vehicle model and the detailed model of the actuation system. According to the results related to simulation, the actuation system is designed. The paper presents the list of the main problems connected with the structural design of ARC. The described process was carried on both for a hydraulic and an electro-mechanical ARC. Thirdly, the prototypes of both the systems are presented. The analysis of the effectiveness of their performance was implemented through devoted Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) test benches. They are described in detail, especially from the point of view of the connection between the hardware of the bench and the software simulating vehicle dynamics. The conclusion of the paper presents a comparison between the hydraulic and the electro-mechanical ARC, by putting in evidence the peculiarities of the solutions, which could be governed by similar control algorithms.