Modeling and control of a four wheel drive Formula SAE car

Abstract

Formula SAE is a collegiate design competition in which student teams design, build, and race an electric formula racecar every year. In 2019, the MIT team built its first four wheel drive vehicle. The new architecture requires more robust and performant control systems. One major challenge is that the vehicle is not functional for the majority of the year. A longitudinal vehicle simulation was written and tested for the purpose of testing control algorithms without a physical testbed, as well as to learn more about vehicle behavior in general. The simulation was written in Simulink and the structure kept versatile so that it could be easily expanded in complexity in future years. Test data was used to successfully correlate the model to the actual system. Several launch control algorithms were also tested using this simulation, for both a rear wheel drive and four wheel drive architecture. Although basic, the control schemes produced promising results for both speed and stability, notably the normal force proportional controller.