The project OWHEEL aims at the development and evaluation of new concepts of automotive wheel corners as crucial elements of future vehicle architecture tailored to provide an optimal comfort during automated driving. The consortium will benchmark four essentially different classes:
- Passive corner with specific wheel positioning;
- Passive composite corner;
- Active corner with ordinary ride dynamics control;
- Active corner with integrated wheel positioning control.
For each proposed concept, the project will include relevant stages of development design, extensive simulation studies and experimental validation. The main goal of the OWHEEL project is to perform deep analysis and provide on its basis the recommendations for future vehicle architecture, which could ensure an optimal comfort by automated driving. In this regard, the research and innovation objectives are focused on:
i. Revisiting the driving comfort criteria with their tuning to automated driving requirements and operational modes;
ii. Development of bencmarking criteria and corresponding analytical tool for comparison of wheel corner concepts in terms of driving comfort quality with simultaneous ensuring of required performance in terms of safety, energy-efficiency and reliability;
iii. Development and validation of active wheel corner concepts;
iv. Development and validation of passive wheel corner concepts;
v. Producing practical recommendations for automotive system developers based on obtained R&D results.
The implementation of the project OWHEEL will be based on intensive staff exchange that leads to collaborative research and training between universities and industrial organizations from EU, Japan and South Africa. The project will also include relevant networking, dissemination and exploitation actions.