Front-Steering Assist Control System Design for a Motorcycle Stabilization during Braking

Abstract

In braking situations, it is known that a motorcycle may become unstable. In this paper, a front-steering assist control is designed to stabilize a motorcycle during braking. The rider-motorcycle system with its pitching motions is linearized around an equilibrium point of quasi-steady state straight running with constant deceleration. From the viewpoints of eigenvalues and frequency responses, the linearized model is analyzed and a reduced-order model is obtained to design the control system by using H_∞ control theory. By carrying out simulations, it is demonstrated that the control system can stabilize a motorcycle during braking when receiving a sudden disturbance from the front wheel, and its applicable scope is discussed for several situations including different maneuvering of a rider.