Narrow track tilting vehicles: out-of-plane dynamics analysis and control

The new urban mobility seem to be going toward light and small vehicles, shared by different people, with high energetic efficiency and space occupation benefits. Electrical vehicles are developing very fast in this new field, in particular so called \textit{Narrow Track Tilting Vehicles} (NTTV). NTTVs represent a good solution between car and motorcycles: they are trying to join the safety and comfort of the cars with the agility and maneuverability of the motorbikes. Due to the small size track, NTTVs have important stability problem during cornering: the possibility of overturning it is not negligible. In the first part of this thesis, the problem of the stability control for narrow track tilting vehicles is addressed in two vehicle speed condition: high speed and low speed. At high speed condition the increased vehicle load causes a reduced maneuverability of the vehicle; the driver have to spend more energy to maneuver the NTTV. In this work the differential motor torque is used (in closed-loop) to improve the maneuverability performances. At low speed condition, the increased volume and load of the NTTV with respect to the traditional motorbike causes a reduced maneuverability: for the driver is more difficult to maintain the vehicle in vertical position. In the present work the differential motor torque is also used (in closed-loop) to actively assist the driver in the roll control. \\ Another good solution for the urban mobility is also the traditional motorbike. It is well known that, unfortunately, the safety in the motorcycle field represent a great problem, mostly in the last years when the motorcycle engine power is always greater. Different electronic systems are developed to improve the safety of the motorcycle. In brake condition the ABS system avoids to lock the wheels allowing to maintain the vehicle controllability. For high powered motorcycles, also the traction condition represents a very safety critical condition. In the last years electronic traction control system are developed to improve the safety in acceleration condition. Engine torque control and acceleration control represent the first examples of traction control system. In the lasts years traction control as a rear wheel slip control has been developed. In this work an innovative traction control as a closed-loop rear wheel slip control is presented. After an accurate torque-to-slip dynamic model identification an appropriate regulator is designed and experimentally validated. The overall performances of the traction control are improved with a generation of an apposite slip reference depending on the road-wheel exchanged force.