Yaw Control of a 3-Axle Truck Semi-Trailer using Steerable-Wheel Optimized with Gravitational Search Algorithm

Yaw stability in heavy vehicle have been one of the problem that is causing major road accidents nowadays. This paper presents the development and optimization of the yaw rejection control for truck semi-trailer using a steerable wheel located at the middle axles. This controller implemented aimed to minimize yaw disturbance which lateral stability on truck semi-trailer vehicles while maneuvering. The study includes 16 DOF of a truck model developed using Matlab software and the development of an electronic controller in the outer loop system for the yaw rejection control including a steerable wheel system placed at the middle axle on the truck vehicle. The system is controlled using a PID controller and optimized using Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). Then, the yaw rejection control which is the active model responses result is compared against the result from passive model responses in terms of magnitude and percentage of difference. In this study the controller was tested using two types of maneuverings, namely double and single lane change tests. Finally, it was shown that he optimized controller managed to improve the yaw rejection control performance.