Abstract
This paper describes the application of Model Predictive Control (MPC) to vehicle motion control using individual wheel braking. The control system comprises a three level hierarchical design, with MPC operating in the middle level. Above this is a model-based reference system for motion control integration, and at the lowest level are individual wheel-slip controllers. Performance advantages are shown to derive from linearization of the predictive model about the general (non-equilibrium) operating point at each controller time step, due to strong nonlinearity in the tire force generation. Performance is evaluated using a "sine with dwell" handling test.
