A New Control Strategy for an Electronic Differential System for Urban Electric Vehicles

Abstract

This paper presents a control strategy that is applied in turning control for decentralized electric vehicles known as the electronic differential system. The conventional mechanical differential has drawbacks, such as bulkiness and slow response. The electric system response is not only ten times faster than its mechanical counterpart, but its accurate control even reduces the loss of power from the motor to the wheel. Through the turning radius from the steering angle command that the driver gives, the controller can distribute torque to each wheel. After controlling each wheel’s rotation, the vehicle can turn in neutral steering. The results show that this strategy can be effectively employed on urban roads.

Keywords

• electric vehicle
• electronic differential system
• torque distribution