Project

Overspeed into a turn may lead to a run-off-road (ROR) crash. According to report DOT HS 811232 (FARS) discussing fatal single-vehicle ROR crashes, 1/3 of all fatal crashes in the study occurred in a turn while nearly 1/2 of all fatal ROR crashes involved speeding. ROR crashes are more likely to occur in adverse weather conditions. Overspeed in curves results in terminal understeer which, in best case, leads to a path outside the intended path (off-tracking) but can also lead to yaw instability. Off-tracking may lead to road departure and/or interference with other traffic, thus representing a real safety problem. However, terminal understeer has received much less attention in research than oversteer (yaw stability) control. In this project, the overall aim with understeer mitigation is to minimize the maximum off-tracking by optimal brake distribution. The optimal control problem is therefore limited to the point of maximum off-tracking (velocity vector parallel to intended path).