Model predictive traction control system based on the Koopman operator

Abstract: Due to their importance, traction control and anti-lock braking systems have become standard equipment in modern vehicles. However, accurate models of tire dynamics are often difficult to obtain and usually include nonlinearities, making their use in control systems challenging. This paper describes a traction control system based on model predictive control and Koopman operator theory, which aims to approximate nonlinear systems with linear ones through a state space transformation. A linear model predictive controller based on the Koopman predictor is compared to a standard nonlinear model predictive controller. Experiments in a high-fidelity vehicle dynamics simulation environment show a comparable reference tracking performance of the two controllers, with a reduced execution time for the proposed Koopman operator-based algorithm, both on a standard PC and embedded hardware.