30 credits - Dynamic model for Longitudinal and Lateral Control i Sodertalje

Scania genomgår nu en transformation från att vara en leverantör av lastbilar, bussar och motorer till en leverantör av kompletta och hållbara transportlösningar.

Background:
The increased demand for transportation leads to tremendous interest in developing autonomous vehicles since their use will improve productivity, decrease traffic congestions, decrease the number of accidents, decrease the air pollution as well as decrease the energy consumption.

To build a reliable and safe autonomous vehicle, all decision-making algorithms need to pass a rigorous testing procedure. There are several stages in the testing procedure. As a first step, the developed algorithm needs to be examined in our simulators, which uses a dynamic vehicle model that describes as well as possible the actual real system. This can only be accomplished if the real vehicle is well-modeled. Modeling the different vehicles is a real challenge, considering that there are multiple vehicles and vehicle configurations (e.g., a bus, a truck, or a truck with trailer).

In the current system, there are already some simulation tools in place, but to be able to simulate different vehicles with the same accuracy, these tools need to be improved and/or changed.

Project Description:
In this project, you will derive mathematical models of our autonomous vehicles (e.g., buses and trucks) and integrate them into our simulation environments. These vehicles are decorated with various state-of-the-art sensors that provide information regarding the status of different components. This information (e.g., vehicle speed, position, and curvature) will be available and considered as ground truth for this project.

You will focus on linear and nonlinear grey-box modeling of vehicle dynamics. Thereby, you will employ the bicycle model, which is simple and broadly used in the vehicle dynamics literature. Using experimental data, you will estimate critical parameters (e.g., the stiffness of tires, the moment of inertia) and validate these resulting models by comparing simulations and experiments. Ultimately, you will integrate them into our simulator by using MATLAB and Simulink.

The project will be developed in close collaboration with other master’s thesis students, Ph.D. students, and Scania engineers and researchers. The division of the work among the students will be discussed at the beginning of the project.

Suggested content:

1. Literature review;
2. Problem formulation;
3. Design of experimental procedure for data collection;
4. Data collection via experiments;
5. Vehicle (bus and truck) lateral and longitudinal modeling via linear/nonlinear grey-box modeling.
6. Validation of models by comparing simulations and experiments;
7. Integration of vehicle models into simulation environment;
8. Documentation of the results;
9. Future work and lessons learned;

Details
Number of students: 1-2
Start date for the project: January 2019
Location: Scania CV AB, Skutan, Södertälje

Qualifications
We are looking for M.Sc. students, preferably in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, aeronautical & vehicle engineering, specializing in control theory. Knowledge in system identification and/or vehicle dynamics is not a requirement, but it will be valued. Solid understanding of MATLAB/Simulink is a requirement. The student should be able to create, analyze, and interpret MATLAB functions and Simulink blocks. The student should also know how to run simulations and analyze the resulting data. Lastly, an excellent command of English, both spoken and written, is required.

Contact persons and supervisors:
Henrik Pettersson, Phone: +46 8553 503 66, Email: