Sliding mode predictive tracking control for uncertain Steer-by-Wire system

The Steer-by-Wire (SbW) system is probably the most significant innovation among drive-by-Wire technologies in the automotive industry. Without the mechanical link, the most challenging issue is to control the wheels to closely follow the driver’s command. To improve the robustness of the model predictive control (MPC) in the presence of modeling uncertainties and disturbances in the steering control processes, a sliding mode predictive tracking control (SMPC) strategy for a SbW system with uncertain dynamics is proposed. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed SMPC tracking controller is superior to both SMC and MPC methods for the steering angle tracking task.