Influence of active camber control on steering feel

Research of the past century has demonstrated that wheel camber regulation provides great potential to improve vehicle safety and performance. This led to the development of various prototypes of the camber mechanisms over the last decade. An overview of the existing prototypes is discussed in the presented paper. Most of the investigations related to camber control cover open-loop maneuvers to evaluate a vehicle response. However, a driver’s perception and his reaction can be the most critical factor during vehicle operation. Therefore, the research goal of the presented study is to assess an influence of active camber control on steering feel and driving performance using a driving simulator. In the proposed investigation, a dSPACE ASM vehicle model has been extended by introducing advanced models of steering system and active camber regulation. The steering system describes dynamics of steering components (upper and lower columns, torsion bar, steering rack and others). It is parameterized and validated for a middle-size passenger vehicle. Camber actuation mechanism is based on the most relevant existing prototype. The proposed camber control system is based on lateral acceleration and yaw rate. Twelve participants drove a driving task with passive and active camber regulation. The results show that active camber control plays a significant role in the subjective assessment of steering feel, and has a corresponding effect on objective driving performance.