Step Steer

A Step steer event simulates vehicle response to a sudden step input to the steering wheel.

The steering input is a rotational motion or torque at the steering wheel or the input shaft to the steering gear. The standard output requests are included to measure vehicle response. Tire requests are included to understand tire forces during the event. The Altair Driver model maintains constant speed during the event. A plot template is available to plot the results.

A series of step steer tests (in both the left and right turn direction) at increasing steer angles can be used to characterize the vehicle understeer and lateral response.

References

ISO +7401-2003 - Road vehicles - Lateral transient response test methods - Open-loop test methods.

Event Inputs

Use event inputs to define the step steer parameters and to select the road that the event is run on.

Event Parameters

Parameter	Description
Units	Velocity unit selection (Model, m/s, km/h, mph).
Velocity	Velocity of the vehicle during the event.
Steer input start time	Initial Steer start time (absolute time in seconds).
Lean input start time*	Initial Lean start time (absolute time in seconds).
Steer input end time	Ending time for application of the step steer in seconds (absolute time).
Lean input end time*	Ending time for application of the step lean in seconds (absolute time).
Maximum steer	Maximum Steering input value (default 60 degrees).
Function type	Sine, step or ramp function (used to transition from 0 degrees steer to the maximum steer value).
End time	Absolute end time of the event, in seconds.
Print interval	Time interval of data output to the plot file (.plt) and graphics file (.h3d).

*Applicable only for Two-wheeler events.

Road Parameters

Use the road parameters to select the road that the vehicle drives on for the event. You can choose to use a flat road, a road data file you select from the event editor, or the road data files selected by tires. The table below describes the parameters in detail.

Parameter	Description
Road Selection	This option menu determines the road selected for the event. There are three choices: Flat Road - Use a flat, smooth road for the event. No road file is needed. Use the road settings to control the road graphics and road mu. From Event - Select a road file from the event road file field. All tires in the model use this road file when running the event. From Tires - For each tire in the model, use the road file selected for that tire in the AutoTire panel. This allows you to use different road files for different tires.
Road Selection = Flat Road When the road Selection is Flat Road, then the event is run on automatically generated flat road data file.
Mu (Friction Scale)	Enter a value greater than or equal to zero that scales the tire-road surface friction. Note the tire-road surface friction is defined in the tire properties. So, if you enter a 0.5 here and the tire-road friction coefficient is 0.8, the effective coefficient of friction is 0.5*0.8 = 0.4.
Show Graphics	Check this box to create graphics for the flat road. Note the graphics are created when you click the Apply or Run button on the event editor.
Graphic Settings	Push this button to display a dialog that controls the flat road graphics, to learn more about the controls see the Road Settings section below.
Road Selection = From Event
Road File	When the Road Selection option is From Event, use the road file field to select the road file for the event.
Road Selection = From AutoTires When the Road Selection is From AutoTires, then each tire runs on the road property file specified for it in the AutoTire panel. This allows the use of different road files for different tires, for example, one road for the right tires and another for the left tires to provide different vertical disturbance.

Driver

Use the Driver tab to set Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) gains and output signal filtering. The PID controllers employed by the Driver depend on the vehicle.

PID Controllers

The Lean PID and Lateral Error PID controllers only apply to leaning vehicles (for example, motorcycles and scooters), while the Longitudinal PID applies to both leaning and non-leaning (for example, cars and trucks) vehicles. Hence the user interface only displays fields for the Lean and Lateral Error PID gains for leaning vehicles.

Lean PID: For leaning vehicles, the Lean PID takes as input a demand lean angle and outputs front fork (steering) angle. For open loop events the lean angle demand is a function of time. For closed loop path following events the demand lean angle is computed based on the vehicle speed and the path curvature with a correction for lateral path error. For more information see the Lean Angle Controller - Two-wheelers topic and also the Gain Tuning for Leaning Two and Three Wheeler Vehicles topic.
Lateral Error PID: For leaning vehicles, the Lateral Error PID takes as input the predicted lateral path error and outputs an increment to the demanded lean angle. The lateral error is computed by predicting the vehicle’s lateral position relative to the path by the look ahead time in the future. The Lateral Error PID acts to lean the vehicle toward the path. For more information see the Lean Angle Controller - Two-wheelers topic.
Longitudinal PID: You can add the longitudinal PID controller to any vehicle to correct for disturbances not accounted for in the feedforward section of the longitudinal controller and to remove steady-state error. The longitudinal PID takes as input velocity error and outputs throttle.

For more information see the Altair Driver Mathematical Methods topic.

Signal Settings

Use the signal settings to set minimum, maximum, and initial values for Steering, Throttle, Brake, Gear and Clutch signals output by the driver. The smoothing frequency is used to control how fast the Driver changes signals. Only closed loop control signals from the Driver are smoothed. Open loop signals are not smoothed.

Steering values have units of radians and smoothing frequency has units of Hz (cycles/second). Other values have no units.

Road Settings

The Road Settings dialog controls the display of the rectangular road graphics.

When a Flat Event is selected for the road and the Display Graphics option is checked, the event generates rectangular graphics for the road. Clicking the Graphic Settings button displays the Road Settings dialog which gives you control over the road graphics.

Grid Parameters

Use the parameters to control the visibility and size of the flat road graphics as described in the table below.

Parameter	Description
View Grid Road	The View Grid Road check box toggles the road grid graphics on and off.
View Event Path	The View Event Path check box toggles the event path graphics on and off. Note: This check box is disabled for open loop events without a path.
Event Based Grid	Check the Event Based Grid option to automatically size the length and width of the road graphics based on the event parameters, like the initial straight and radius for the constant radius event. Remove the check from the Event Based Grid option to input the size of the road graphics.
Grid Square Size	Enter a positive value in model units giving the length and width of squares in the road graphics.
Grid Length	Enter a positive value in model units giving the length of the road graphics.
Grid Width	Enter a positive value in model units giving the width of the road graphics.
Grid X Offset	Enter a value in model units giving the distance to offset the road graphics in the longitudinal direction.
Grid Y Offset	Enter a value in model units giving the distance to offset the road graphics in the lateral direction.

Grid Color

To change the color of the road grid squares or the event path, check the respective check box and then pick the desired color from the palette.

Note: The Event Path check box is disabled for open loop events without a path.