Comparison of a vehicle equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to a vehicle with Four Wheel Steering (4WS)

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Four Wheel Steering (4WS) have been used to control the yaw rate and sideslip angle of automobiles, in order to improve stability and prevent accidents. The scope of this paper is to compare the behaviour of a vehicle equipped with no control systems, to a vehicle equipped with ESC, a vehicle equipped with 4WS and a vehicle equipped with a combination of ESC and 4WS in a series of simulated tests, using an adequate vehicle and driver model. The operating parameters of the control systems and the driver model have been optimised by using an evolution strategy. According to the results, the vehicle equipped with 4WS performed better in open-loop tests, while the vehicle equipped with ESC performed better in closed-loop tests where the vehicle is controlled by the driver model. The vehicle equipped with a combination of ESC and 4WS has achieved consistently better results in all our tests and has shown that the use of 4WS systems can augment the operation of ESC system and achieve a better safety level for future vehicles.