High-gain observer-based integral sliding mode tracking control for heavy vehicle electro-hydraulic servo steering systems

The electro-hydraulic servo steering system (EHSSS) is the key element to determine the handling and stability of heavy vehicles. Accurate steering control is challenged due to its complicated structure and a wide range of steering loads. In this paper, an output feedback integral sliding mode control (ISMC) method based on high-gain observer is proposed to solve this issue. First, a new Hurwitz matrix design method is presented for EHSSS with non-chain integrator, in order to prove the convergence of the observer error dynamics. Then, the Lyapunov stability of the observer-based controller is verified. Finally, a test bench is established to experimentally validate the proposed method?s effectiveness through multiple test scenarios. The results show the tracking error of the proposed method is significantly smaller than PI and similar to full-state feedback integral sliding mode controller. This paper provides a valuable reference for high-gain observer-based nonlinear control applied to a typical electro-hydraulic servo steering system.

Automated summary

This study proposes a nonlinear control method based on a high-gain observer to address the handling and stability issues of heavy vehicles. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, showing its performance superior to a PI controller.