Robust control of mode transition for a single-motor full hybrid electric vehicle

• Main Authors: Bo Du, Xiaofeng Yin, Yang Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-09-01
• Series: Advances in Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/1687814017717428

The single-motor full hybrid electric vehicle tends to suffer drivability and excessive clutch wear issues during the mode transition from electric driving to hybrid driving because the single motor must simultaneously propel the vehicle and divert torque via clutch engagement to start the engine. In this study, a novel four-phase compound robust control method consisting of the feedforward–feedback technology and the robust compensation approach is proposed to address these problems during the mode transition. The whole mode transition process was divided into four consecutive phases according to the operating status of engine and clutch. In each phase, a nominal controller based on the feedforward–linear quadratic regulator feedback technology is first designed for the nominal linear model to guarantee a desired control performance. And then, the nonlinear uncertain part of the engine/clutch torque and the vehicle resistant torque as well as the model parameter uncertainties are all considered as equivalent disturbances, and a robust compensator is introduced to suppress the effect of equivalent disturbances. Simulation is performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method. The results show that the four-phase compound robust control method can achieve better vehicle drivability and minimize clutch wear during the mode transition from electric driving to hybrid driving even in the presence of various torque disturbances and parameter uncertainties.