The course aim is to provide an overview on the main automotive control problems and related solutions, dealing with chassis, engine and driveline subsystems. Some of the vehicle control systems, selected from the most common and usually present on commercial cars are deepened.

- Learning of the vehicle subsystems: chassis, engine, driveline
- Learning of detailed and simplified vehicle modelling for each subsystem
- Learning of vehicle control aspects and objectives for each subsystem and their interactions
- Learning of possible solutions to each control problem
- Ability to adapt vehicle model complexity to simulation, estimation, design aims
- Ability to formulate vehicle control objectives
- Ability to design each control system and to evaluate the obtained performances
- Ability to evaluate and tune a control system by means of the numerical simulation

The student must know the automatic control fundamental concepts and methods: the notion of dynamic system, its mathematical representation, its properties analysis, the notion of performance and feedback, the regulator design main techniques, such as the state or output feedback, both in the time and frequency domain. Digital control techniques, such as sampling, reconstruction and digital filter realization, are useful, together with robustness notion and its related analysis and design techniques. Basics on mechanical and thermodynamics systems and their mathematical description are as well useful. The student must be able to use the MATLAB/SIMULINK software environment.

Course presentation and overview on automotive control problems (2 hours).
Chassis control problems:
- Longitudinal dynamic during braking: ABS (6 hours).
- Yaw dynamic in steering manoeuvres: ESP (7 hours).
Engine control problems:
- Thermodynamic phenomena (4 hours).
- Combustion engines principles (4 hours).
- Air fuel ratio control (6 hours).
- Idle speed control (5 hours).
- Knock control (5 hours).
- Cylinder balancing (2 hours).
Driveline control problems:
- Gear shifting (4 hours).

The exercises deal with the chassis and driveline lecture subjects deepening, by means of numerical examples. The exercises take place in a computer laboratory using CARSIM, a professional numerical simulator of the vehicle dynamics, together with the software tool MATLAB/SIMULINK (13 hours).
If possible, visit to and/or presentation of automotive field companies are scheduled during the course (2 hours).

U. Kiencke, L. Nielsen, Automotive Control Systems: For Engine, Driveline and Vehicle, Springer-Verlag, Second Edition, 2005.
A.G. Ulsoy, H. Peng and M. Çakmakcı, Automotive Control Systems, Cambridge University Press, 2012
Additional material, such as notes, lecture slides and laboratory exercise files, is made available to students.

Written examination lasting about 2 hours and divided in two sections: First Section (laboratory on-line procedure) made of multiple choice questions (50% of total mark) with a penalty of ¼ of the question score if the given answer is wrong; Second Section made of free response questions (50% of total mark). A minimum mark of 4/16 in the First Section is mandatory to be admitted to the Second Section of the exam. The closed-answer questions deal with methodology, numerical exercises, software laboratory exercises and CarSim knowledge, etc. The open-answer questions deal with methodology. During the exam, both Sections, it is possible to look through books, personal notes, lecture slides, etc.
Writing and discussion of a homework (developed in team) about any topic inherent the course can substitute the free response part.