Modelling · control design · Michigan, 2019–21
Steering control
A multi-order controller for vehicle steering, designed against a model of the steering system rather than tuned on the car.
The problem
Steering has to feel immediate and stay stable, and those two pull against each other. Push the bandwidth up for response and you start exciting compliance in the linkage; back it off for margin and the response goes vague.
Approach
Build the model first — the dynamics of the steering system as an ordered transfer function — then synthesise a controller of the order the model actually requires, rather than fitting gains on a rig and hoping the behaviour generalises.
What it does
Delivers the commanded steer angle with the response and stability margin the design targets, verified in simulation against the modelled plant.