Abstract
A typical tire endurance testing machine (TTM) is described and a new digitally controlled TTM is proposed. Currently TTMs normally use an analog PID-type servo loop to control the force with which a tire is pressed against a large turning road-wheel (radial load control). The camber angle and steer angle of the tire are both normally constant and zero. This type of system does not perform well with changing radial loads because the system dynamics are influenced by the tire's weight and spring constant which varies from tire to tire. Analog electronic control cannot adapt to these parametric changes but digital control can. In this paper a model reference adaptive controller is proposed. This type of control allows specific loading dynamics (the reference model) to be programmed independently of tire weight and spring constant. This enables the user to emulate a specific suspension system on a bumpy road simply by specifying the suspension dynamics and the changes in load.
