Robust observer design of tire forces in heavy-duty vehicles

This paper presents a robust observer design methodology to estimate tire forces in heavy-duty vehicles. The proposed methodology uses low-cost sensors and observer-based numerical differentiators. In addition to the already available sensors, low-cost sensors from the CAN bus are employed to get additional measurements. Sliding mode differentiators are used to optimize the sensors' configuration. Validation of the proposed estimation methodology is made by comparing the results with that generated using the PROSPER software simulator. The finite-time convergence with small estimation error suggests that the proposed methodology is valid and can be applied in real time.