Robust control for electric vehicle powertrains

This paper considers the application of robust control methods ($mu$- and ${rm H}_{infty}$-synthesis) to the speed and acceleration control problem encountered in electric vehicle powertrains. To this end, we consider a two degree of freedom control structure with a reference model. The underlying powertrain model is derived and combined into the corresponding interconnected system required for $mu$- and ${rm H}_{infty}$-synthesis. The closed-loop performance of the resulting controllers are compared in a detailed simulation analysis that includes nonlinear effects. It is observed that the $mu$-controller offers performance advantages in particular for the acceleration control problem, but at the price of a high-order controller.