PEDS 2007

Fuzzy Logic

Controller for Electric Vehicle

Braking Strategy

Xixi. Wang , K.W.Eric Cheng , Xiaozhong Liao , Norbert C. Cheung and Lei Dong2
2

1Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Department of Automatic Control, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

Abstract--In this paper, the braking strategy is

developed for electric vehicle which includes
regenerative braking and anti-lock brake system
(ABS). Induction motor is used in EV to regenerate
kinetic energy. This paper describes the preliminary
research and implementation of a fuzzy logic
controller to control wheel slip for ABS. The
controller is used to enhance the vehicle stability and
safety under highly nonlinear and time variant
braking conditions. Simulation was used to derive a
rule base. The robustness of the fuzzy-logic slip
regulator is further tested by applying the resulting
controller over a wide range controller over a wide
range of operating conditions.
Index Terms-- Electrcial vehicle, ABS, Antilock braking
system

I. INTRODUCTION

When braking electric vehicle whose wheels are driven

by induction motor, the total braking torque is the sum of
the motor regenerative braking torque and the hydraulic
frictional torque. The distribution of the two kinds of
torque is mainly determined by the braking mode. There
are different braking modes which correspond to different
control strategies: Emergency braking, Moderate braking
and Downhill continuous braking
During low brake pedal force, only the regenerative
braking torque is applied on the driving wheels, and is
proportional to the pedal pressing force. When the pedal
force is beyond a certain limit, the maximum regenerative
braking torque is applied on the driving wheels, and the
hydraulic braking torque is simultaneously applied on the
driving wheels to top up the desired braking torque.
Hence, the maximum regenerative braking torque can be
kept constant to fully recover the kinetic energy. [1] But
if sufficient braking force is applied, the wheel will "lock
up," that is, slide without turning at all. It's very
dangerous because a locked wheel has no lateral stability.
The goal of ABS is to generate the largest possible brake
force in real time while keeping the vehicle maneuverable
and preventing the lock-up of car wheels.
In emergency braking, the car often slips when the
road condition is not good. It is very dangerous for the
car which will lose maneuverability. So this paper
focuses on the first mode to study how regenerative
This work was supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
under the project number 1-BB86.

1-4244-0645-5/07/$20.002007 IEEE

braking and anti-lock brake system work in emergency

braking.
From Fig.1, where ,u is tire-road adhesion
coefficient, s is slip ratio, if the slip ratio is kept at the
peak adhesion coefficient slip ratio, i.e. sp point, the
longitudinal force is the biggest, and the lateral force is
well situated, the braking distance will be as short as
possible while the vehicle is still controlled. If s > sp,
the lateral force will come to zero very soon. So ABS is
to control the slip ratio in stable region (0 < s < sp ),
and to approach sp as near (Near sp ) as possible. Most
control strategies define their performance goal as
maintaining slip near a value of 0.2 throughout the
braking trajectory. This represents a compromise between
lateral stability, which is the best at zero slip, and
maximum deceleration, which usually peaks for some
value of slip between 0.1 and 0.3. The goal of ABS
control then becomes the regulation of slip to a known
and desired level [2] [3].
ALi
(Sp,(pS, )
longitudinal

(l,pu')
lateral

sP

-Os

Fig. 1 The u - s characteristic curve

Recent research on braking system has been concentrated
on Fuzzy control, for antilock braking systems[4], all
wheel drives [5], antilock braking system using brake-bywire [6], sensorless control [7]. In this paper, we intend
to develop a fuzzy controller for the anti-lock brake
system. Fuzzy logic, or the use of fuzzy sets, allows
uncertain or inexact concepts to be represented. Fuzzy
logic derives from a grouping of elements into classes
that do not possess sharply defined boundaries. Fuzzy
controllers differ from model-based controllers in that

they encode heuristic knowledge. Despite the absence of

analytical modeling information, systems governed by
fuzzy controllers are often highly robust [8] [9]. In

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Section 2, the mathematical models for the braking

dynamics are introduced, which include the model of the
vehicle dynamic, induction motor and the brakehydraulic system. In Section 3, a fuzzy controller for the
ABS is developed. In Section 4, the software Simulink is
used to build the simulation model for the full control
system and provide simulation results. Finally, the
conclusions are given.
II. THE PLANT

The system to be controlled is represented as four

wheels of a vehicle in straightforward motion. In straight
line braking, lateral tire forces do not exist. The model
presented includes the effects of road roughness on the
braking process. The model of the longitudinal vehicle
dynamic [4] can be described as follows:
vx- longitudinal speed of the vehicle, CO- wind block
coefficient, A - wind area, f - roll resistance
coefficient

J c(2,2) = Td (2,2) - F, (2,2) R - Mf (2,2) (4)

(5)
Mf (in j) = Fz (i, j) f R

Mf -

roll resistance moment, J, - moment of inertia

of wheels, R - radius of wheels.

B. Longitudinal tireforce
The model will also consider the Longitudinal tire
force:
(6)
Fx = *F * sign(s,)
and also normal tire forces Fz1 and Fz2 .
This is the equation about the tire-road force which
is the relationship between tyre braking force and wheel
slip. ,u is tire-road adhesion coefficient, sx is slip ratio,
and F, is the normal force of the wheel.
The slip ratio model is:

OR -v
OR
1
s ,R - VX

driving

(7)

braking

vx

,u is tire-road adhesion coefficient, we can use linear

model to express it, as shown in Fig.4:
(S,gP)

Fig.2 Road load

braking

SI

1.,-Up)

(-s,-Au )

Fig.4 The linear model

Where pp is peak adhesion coefficient; sp is peak
adhesion coefficient slip ratio; puo is the adhesion
coefficient when the wheel locking, the corresponding
equation is:

Fig.3 Wheel load

A. The wheel equations

Torque equilibrium equations of the four wheels:

J * (1,1) = Td (1,1) - Fx (1,1) * R - Mf (1,1)

driving

(1)

IL

~~~sx
Sr
p~~~~~~~~~I

J* c(1,2) = Td(1,2) - Fx (1,2) * R - Mf (12)

(2)

J* c(2,1) = Td (2,1) - Fx (2,1) * R - Mf (2,1)

(3)

LIP

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1-sp

SX <_

(8)

C. Tireforces
Neglecting aerodynamic drag force and taking moments
about the contact point of the rear tire in Figure 5. when
driving in horizontal road, the normal tire forces are:
_ m(bg -<h) ,
(12) m(bg -vXh)

F(1,1)(21)

2(a +b)

'2(a +b)

m(ag
) Fz (2,2) -m(ag+b'xh)
2
+ b)
-2(a
2(a +b)
+

(9)

vx

b,,

minus for decreasing, zero for maintaining, and the

positive for increasing. The absolute value represents the
opening degree of the valve, which can be controlled by
the duty ratio of the current. For example, -1 shows the
state that the dump valve fully opens, and the system is
decreasing pressure at its greatest degree.
TABLE I
THE ACTION OF VALVE WHEN CONTROL IS GIVEN

Valve control
signal D
1
(0,1)

Input valve
action

Output valve
action

Fully open
Open at the

Fully closed
Fully closed

percent of |D|

""W ...
v

Fully closed
Fully closed

(-1,0)

Fully closed
Open at the
percent of |D|

-1

Fully closed

Fully open

For the liquid flow of the valve, the simplified

mathematic mode is

+Ap* D

Q =CVA

(10)

Where D belongs to (-1, 1) A is the maximum open

area of the valve, CV is a constant, p is the density of the
liquid, Ap is the pressure difference of the valve.
To wheel cylinder, the differential equation is
,

Fig.5 Calculation of normal tire forces

D. Model of the brake hydraulic dynamics
The essence of the ABS system is to control the oil
flow of the build valve and the dump valve, thus to
control the brake force. The sketch of ABS hydraulic
system is shown in Fig. 5.

P =-(Qin- Qut )
v IV

wheel cylinder
oil

braking force

pipe

wheel

Fig.6 ABS hydraulic system

The valve opening of the electromagnetic valve is
determined by the duty ratio of its current which can be
controlled by PWM. There is only one valve open for
each wheel at any time. When increasing pressure, build
valve opens, and dump valve closes. When maintaining
pressure, both valves close. And when decreasing
pressure, build valve closes, and dump valve opens. The
process is then represented in digital format as shown in
Table 1. The whole process is correspond to (-1,1), the

5Ut

(1 1)

Hence,

wvalve

build

P(t) - P(O) =

Qdt

(12)

It's an integral process, where P is the oil pressure,

E is a constant, and V is the volume of the wheel
cylinder.
From the equations, it's shown that controlling the
valve opening will finally affect the pressure of the oil in
wheel cylinder. And the ABS system is controlling the
value D using fuzzy logic controller.

CONTROLLER CONCEPT
Combining the hydraulic braking system and induction
motor system, the induction motor ABS is shown in Fig 4.
The system consists of the energy storage device, inverter
drive for the motor, ABS and foot brake. The inverter is
driven by rotor flux control.
III.

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all minima according to Mamdami's method. Each

variable is defined in terms of seven fuzzy classes
ranging from "negative large" to "positive large." Fig 5

Fig4. Induction motor ABS

The induction motor is regenerative when braking. The

Regenerative braking system utilizes the electric motor,
providing negative torque to the driven w ,,pA
converting kinetic energy to electrical w"
recharging the battery. The maximum regenerative power
can not beyond rating power, and so the maximum
regenerative torque. In order to decelerate the motor as
soon as possible, and to regenerate more energy, the
braking torque is equal to the rating torque. Because in
this experiment, when the car reaches its highest speed,
the motor magnetic field weakening is invalidate. The
braking torque is not limited by the motor power and the
S
vehicle speed.
If the braking force is low, the moFrtiVfflovide the
whole braking torque, and the decelq
ismall, the
wheel is impossible to be locked, so t
stem will
not work. However, in emergency braking, the process is
very different. The friction brake becomes Sery crucial
and the electrical control unit (ECU) of the car monitors
the slip ratio of each wheel at real tgenerative

met1J;4WPgBS,

There are many control

the
most commonly used strategy is PID control. PID
controller technology is very mature and the most widely
used control strategy in continuous system. From the

mathematic models, it's clearly that the tire model is

nonlinear, which leads to the whole ABS nonlinear. The
braking condition changes a lot at each braking time, so
the crucial parameters such as tire-road adhesion
coefficient are different at each time. PID controller is
very sensitive to parameter variation. The proportional
and integral parameters must be altered when condition
changing, otherwise the result will be worse. So PID
controller should self-adjust its parameters on line, which
is complicated to be realized.
A fuzzy controller and its design principles
have been developed for the anti-lock brake system. The
fuzzy logic controller consists of three parts: the

preprocessing part, the fuzzy logic control part, and the

postprocessing part. The preprocessing part handles the
hardware interface and calculates the necessary variables
for the fuzzy logic control part. The fuzzy logic control
part fuzzifies the inputs and maps them to a rule base to
determine the control output. The fuzzy logic rules utilize
standard max-min fuzzy inference. The center of area
method is used to generate the control output. Output
defuzzification is performed by computing the centroid of

rgy
age
rig. I ne rule ior me luzzy controller
(Inputl is the slip ratio difference, input2 is the rate ofthe difference
and output is the valve opening)

vice

IV. COMPUTER SIMULATION

In this research, we use the software Simulink to build
the whole anti-lock braking system and its fuzzy
controller. The mathematicajn s including theIfvler
force model, the vehicle dynT s hotors and the model
for the brake-hydraulic systeC discussed above atgr

converted into Simulink models.

The main design intent for this brakiEV\A& is

preventing the wheels from locking and decreasing the
stopping distance. That
slip near a value of
0.2 throughout the braking trajefjory. The effect of the
anti-lock braking systQlf l4iined by braking on
different surfaces, including dry road, wet road and icy
road
The simulation results are shown below. Fuzzy
controller ABS simulation has two parts due to different
reference speeds as follows:

i4t%otjg

The reference speed is shown in the follwing figure.

Brake each wheel with 5ONm at 20 seconds. It can be
seen that the fuzzy scheme automatically adapts the slip
control algorithm, identifies the unstable region of the
slip curve and reduces the slip. Eventually the slip
stabilizes.
From Fig 6, ABS doesn't work and the wheels keep
regenerative braking. From Fig 7, it is clearly that the rear
wheel is more apt to slip than the front wheel for its
normal tire force is smaller than the front when braking.
So ABS firstly takes effect on the rear wheels while the
front wheels are regenerative braking. When the road
condition is bad such as icy road, ABS becomes operative
very soon as shown in Fig 8.

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wheel

5-

induction motor ABS has the same anti-lock effect as the

mechanical ABS which is commonly in used, but can
enhance the driving range. Furthermore, the motor
response is much quicker than mechanical system,
leading to faster response and shorter brake distance.

vehicle speed
front wheel
- rear wheel

--

4cn

3a)

6-

2-

5-

1u

15

10

25

20

30

-0

t(s)

a)

al)

0.2 0.1

n)

15
t(s)

10

0.1 5

20

15

10

t(s)

25

20-

---------

front wheel

-0.1 -

V--

---

-0.2 -

-0.4 -

10-

-0.57

0-

10

-10-

20

-20j
5

10

15

25

20

~E

o-

30

t(s)

o2

2000-

front wheel
rear wheel

10

-20

front wheel
- rear wheel
-

1000-

10

a)

20

15

t(s)

U,

30

25

-10

3000-

l-

20

15

t(s)

o
0

QL
0

front wheel
rear wheel

-0.3 -

-rear wheel

30

0.0 -

30

0-

25

20

0.2 -

rd

-0.2-

-n
-U.0

2-

-0 1-

-0.4-

a)

rear wheel

-0.3-

4-

1 -/

front wheel

0.00

vehicle speed
front wheel
rear wheel

1~~~

30

25

0-1000-

3000 -

-2000-

2000

-300015

20

1000 -

a)

o10

front wheel
rear wheel

25

30

t(s)

Fig 6: .Dry road curve for 5m/s, Lp1 = L, u0 = 0.8

The figures show three road conditions. Every
condition includes four figures describing speed of the
vehicle and the wheels, wheel slip ratio, motor torque and
motor power. From this figures, it is shown that the
electric vehicle regenerates power when braking no
matter what the road condition is. Obviously, when the
road condition better, more power can be regenerated. So

0-

-1000

-2000

-3000

10

15

25

20

30

t(s)

Fig 7: Wet road curve for

1546

5m/s,

pp

0.4,

duo

0.2

V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the braking system for electric vehicle
has been developed. Motors provide maximum braking
torque, the rest force is provided by the hydraulic braking
system. If the braking torque is so large that the slip ratio
is unstable, antilock braking system will take effect. The
system mathematical models, such as vehicle dynamics,
tire force ,the brake hydraulic system and motor control
strategy, have been discussed and the fuzzy controller for
the antilock braking system has been established. The
simulations showed that a fuzzy controller is an effective
means to provide braking torque control over operating
conditions ranging from dry road to icy road. The
robustness of the fuzzy controller has been shown with
the ability to adjust to varying road surfaces. The method
discussed in this paper could be used and more practical
experiments should be done for improvement in the
future.

vehicle speed
front wheel
rear wheel

5
4U,

a)CDL

3
21

I'\

10

15

t(s)

20

25

30

0.2 -

0.1

--------

front wheel
rear wheel

0.0 0
0-

-0.1

-0.2 -

REFERENCES

-0.3 -

[1]

VI

-0.4 _n rI
-U.J

10

20

15

t(s)

25

30

20
z
a)

o-

_E
1-

-front wheel

10-

---rear wheel

0-

Modern electric vehicle technology, Chan, C. C., New

York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001
[2] Chih-Keng Chen, Yu-Chi Wang, "Fuzzy Control for the
Anti-lock Brake System", The 1996 Asian Fuzzy Systems
Symposium. 11-14 Dec. pp.:67 - 72
[3] Madau, D.P., Yuan, F., Davis. L.I., Jr. Feldkamp, L.A.
"Fuzzy Logic Anti-Lock Brake System for a Limited
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IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol.

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[5] Tahami, F., Kazemi, R., Farhanghi, S., "A Novel Driver

-10-

Assist Stability System for All-Wheel-Drive Electric

Vehicles", IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology,

-20 5

10

15

t(s)

20

0
0

June-2 July 2004. pp.:2699-2704.

[7] Jezernik, K, "Speed sensorless torque control of induction

front wheel
---------

2000-

rear wheel

1000-

0-1000-2000-3000-

10

15

t(s)

Vol. 52, Issue 3, May 2003. pp.:683 - 692

30

[6] Anwar, S., "An Anti-Lock Braking Control System for a

Hybrid Electromagnetic/ Electro hydraulic Brake-ByWire System", American Control Conference, Vol. 3, 30

3000-

a1)

25

20

25

30

1s
X, -n
- v. 1.
Fig8: Icy road curve for 5m/s, ,p -n'
V.,/U~o
-

motor for EV's.", 7th International Workshop on

Advanced Motion Control. 3-5 July 2002. pp.:236 - 241.
[8] Mauer, G.F., "A Fuzzy Logic Controller for an ABS
Braking System", IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems,
Vol. 3, Issue 4, Nov. 1995 pp.381 - 388.
[9] Khatun, P., Bingham, C.M., Schofield, N., Mellor, P.H.,
"Application of Fuzzy Control Algorithms for Electric
Vehicle Antilock Braking/Traction Control Systems",
IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol.
52, Issue 5, Sept. 2003. pp.1356- 1364
[10] Vehicle dynamics and control, Rajamani, Rajesh., New
York: Springer, c2006.

From all the figures above, it is shown that fuzzy

controller ABS has strong robustness and can minimize

the brake distance while keeping the wheel unlocked.

1547