A Comparative Study of Two Control Schemes for
Anti-Lock Braking Systems
Samuel John
Department of Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
Namibian University of Science and Technology
Windhoek, Namibia
Email: sjohn@polytechnic.edu.na
AbstractThe commercial Bang-Bang anti-lock braking sys-
tem has several short-comings. Therefore, there is the need for
continual improvement on the ABS control strategy. One of
the problems associated with these short-comings includes the
physical shock experienced by drivers through the brake petal
pulsation, when the system is activated. A non-linear and a neural
network-based alternative ABS control schemes are proposed and
evaluated. The main goal is for the ABS controller to maintain
optimal system performance in terms of slip regulation and
minimising the vehicle stopping distance during hard-braking.
A comparative analysis of the two ABS controllers based on
simulation results, showed the neural network-based controller
to be superior.
I. I NTRODUCTION
The anti-lock braking system (ABS) is an active safety sys-
tem that activates during braking, the goal of which is to avert
skidding. This operation results in improving the longitudinal
stability and drivers control of the steering, thereby improving
the drivers ability to avoid obstacles. The ABS also regulates
the braking torque to maximise the frictional forces between
the tyres and the road, consequently minimising the braking
distance.
The importance of active safety systems in road vehicles
like the ABS, cannot be over-emphasised. A study was con-
ducted in Australia [1] to ascertain the effectiveness of ABS in
preventing vehicle occupant injury risk and injury severity. The
study was based on crash data from 12 local vehicle suppliers,
comparing ABS fitted vehicles to those without ABS. The
findings revealed that ABS fitted vehicles reduced the rate of
rear-end, head-on and pedestrian crashes. Similar studies were
conducted in the United States and the findings showed similar
results with those of the Australian study [2], [3]. Both studies,
concluded that vehicles fitted with ABS have beneficial effect
in preventing most types of crashes.
The braking system in road vehicles has evolved over the
years to the latest electromechanical brakes (EMB), which
are used in brake-by-wire (BBW) systems. Considering the
contribution of the ABS to vehicle safety makes it necessary
for continual review and improvement as newer and faster
vehicles are developed. Furthermore, with the introduction of
the electromechanical brake system, a more continuous braking
operation can be achieved with a high level of accuracy. From
the control viewpoint, therefore, more refinement of the ABS
978-1-4673-5769-2/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
Jimoh O. Pedro
School of Mechanical, Industrial and
Aeronautical Engineering
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: jimoh.pedro@wits.ac.za
operation could be achieved with these improved hardware
components. Anwar [4] demonstrates the positive impact EMB
systems could have on ABS performance.
Most commercial ABS have a design objective of maximis-
ing the friction force between the tyres and the road surface
and employs a simple bang-bang controller scheme [5], [6]. It
basically consists of an electronic control unit (ECU), speed
sensors located at the wheels and a modulator that regulates
the solenoid valves. The speed sensors send speed signals to
the ECU, which decides when to increase, or decrease the
braking pressure. The ECU computes the deceleration of the
vehicle, compares it with the actual speed sensor to determine
if the slippage is becoming excessive. If this is the case, the
ECU sends signals to release the pressure on the braking pads;
otherwise, it keeps the pressure [7]. On the determination
of a wheel lock-up point, the solenoid valves releases the
pressure on the wheels momentarily thereby maximizing the
friction/slip relations, by staying within the region with the
optimum coefficient of friction.
Current research focuses on slip-control. The role of the
controller therefore, is to track the target slip irrespective of
changes in road conditions and other vehicle dynamics. In
this regards, several control modes have been proposed by
researchers and industry. Some popular controllers include:
proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller [8], [9]: the
PID is extensively used in industry [10] and hence its ap-
plication to ABS comes naturally. To enhance the robustness
of the ABS some researches have proposed the sliding mode
controller (SMC). For example, Jing et al [11] proposed SMC
that incorporates a moving sliding surface, based on global
sliding mode control (GSMC) strategy for the slip control.
Also, a new SMC methodology called the grey sliding mode
control method, has been proposed as a possible solution to
the ABS problem [12], [13]. This new SMC scheme has
been shown to effectively alleviates the chattering-effect in the
conventional SMC.
The current work, proposes two slip-control methods:
feedback linearisation controller (FBL) and its neural net-
work counterpart (NNFBL). The feedback linearization control
scheme is more robust with respect to un-modelled dynamics
and dynamic uncertainties, compared to the PID and SMC
methods. To get maximum benefit with respect to accurate
slip tracking using PID and SMC, which is necessary for
effective ABS performance, requires a comprehensive math-
ematical model. Whereas in FBL method, the nonlinerities
are cancelled to create a linear system thereby simplifying the
control application. Further improved performance of the ABS
is achieved using intelligent control schemes.
The layout of the rest of the paper is as follows: section
two presents the mathematical model for the analysis; the
controller design is detailed in section three; section four
presents the simulation results and comaparative analysis and
the conclusion is presented in section five.
II. M ODEL DYNAMICS
A. Quarter-car model
The vehicle dynamics are simplified to a quarter-car model
which is used extensively in the analysis of the ABS controllers
[14][17]. The model consists of a single wheel carrying a
quarter mass m of the vehicle and at any given time t, the
vehicle is moving with a longitudinal velocity v(t). Before
brakes are applied, the wheel moves with an angular velocity of
(t), driven by the mass m in the direction of the longitudinal
motion. Due to the friction between the tyre and the road
surface, a tractive force Fx is generated. When the driver
applies the braking torque, it will cause the wheel to decelerate
until it comes to a stop. A two degree of freedom quarter-car
model is shown in Figure 1.
Fig. 1. Quarter-car model
It is worthy to note that by this simplification of the
model, the roll, pitch and heave motions are not considered.
In addition, the suspension dynamics are not incorporated;
thus the payload transferred during braking operations and
also braking in very rough road terrains are not considered.
However, for the study of the ABS controller performance;
which is the goal of this work, the essential characteristics are
captured in a quarter-car model.
The equation describing the wheel rotational dynamics is
given by:
1 =
= (r()Fz B Tb (sign()) (1)
J where r is the radius of the tyre.
where is the angular velocity of the wheel, J is the
rotational inertia of the wheel, r is the radius of the tyre, B
is the viscous friction coefficient of the wheel bearings and
Tb is the effective braking torque, which is dependent on the
direction of the angular velocity.
The equation describing the vehicle longitudinal dynamics
is given by:
1 r
v = (()Fz + Cv 2 ) (2)
m v
where v is the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle, C is the
vehicles aerodynamic friction coefficient, is the longitudinal
friction coefficient between the tyre and the road surface is
the longitudinal tyre slip and Fz is the normal force exerted
on the wheel.
The braking dynamics is modelled as a first-order system
given by:
1
Tb = (Tb + b Pb ) (3)
where b is the braking gain, Pb is the braking pressure
from the action of the brake pedal which is converted to torque
by the gain b and is the hydraulic time constant.
III. C ONTROLLER D ESIGN
The two ABS control schemes evaluated in this work
are feedback linearization (FBL) and neural network-based
feedback linearization (NNFBL)controllers. Controller design
for the Feedback linearization scheme will be discussed while a
summary of the neural network-based controller will be follow.
A. Feedback linearization wheel slip control of ABS
Feedback linearization is a control system solution for
non-linear systems that transforms non-linear models to an
equivalent linear model [18]. The FBL approach applied in
the current work, requires that the output variable y is dif-
ferentiated times until an explicit relationship between the
output and the input is realised. If the order of the system is
n, the condition for applying FBL is that n, where is
referred to as the relative degree of the system.
The FBL control scheme is applicable to a class of non-
linear systems described by the canonical form of Equation
(4) [19].
x = f (x) + g(x)u (4)
y = h(x) (5)
T
In this case, the state variables x = [x1 , x2 ] are the
wheel angular velocity and the vehicle longitudinal velocity
v respectively, f, g : Rn Rn are smooth functions and y
is the output slip function which is represented by Equation
(6).
v r
(6)
v
The wheel slip dynamics is obtained by taking the deriva-
tive of the longitudinal wheel slip (Equation 6) with respect to
time, assuming that the radius of the tyre remains constant.
d dv d dr
= + + (7)
dt v dt dt r dt
r
= 2 v (8)
v
 Substituting (1) and (2) into (8) yields the following: It is evidence from equation (15) that the chosen control
input (14) provides perfect tracking.

r2
   
1 r B C Tb r
= + Fx + r + (9) B. Neural network-based feedback linearization wheel slip
v mv J Jv m Jv control of ABS

Rearranging (9) and knowing that Fx = Fz () yields the Due to high uncertainty associated with slip () dynamics,
slip dynamics as it is proposed to employ neural networks for its estimation. In
the feedback linearization control scheme, it is assumed that
r2 Fz
 
B C Fz Tb r all state variables are measurable and/or observable. However,
= r 2
+ + (10)
Jv m mv Jv Jv it is difficult to develop a perfect mathematical model as some
parameters of the system may be perturbed. Neural network-
The slip dynamics represented by Equation (10) is in the based feedback linearization (NNFBL) has been employed
form of Equation (4): by researchers, to handle similar non-linear control problems

Fz
 2 [21][23].
where f (x) = r Jv B
mC
mv 2 + r Jv
Fz r
, g(x) = Jv
In view of the short-comings of the model-based controller
and u = Tb .
approach, Neural networks are employed to estimate the
unknown functions. The controller parameters are therefore
In this case f () and g() are non-linear dynamic functions. up-dated to achieve convergence of the error to zero, by
The goal of the ABS is to track a predetermined slip set-point the selection of an appropriate learning algorithm. In the
(d ). At this operating point, it is safely assumed that g(x) 6= 0, current work, it is assumed that the functions f () and g()
and hence the control input can be chosen as: are unknown. This assumption is necessary for the sake of
comparison between the FBL and the NNFBL.
1 Sequel to this assumption therefore, an indirect adaptive
u= [ f (x)] (11)
g(x) control method, using NNFBL model is chosen to estimate the
where is a virtual input. ABS model. The NNFBL is based on input-output feedback
linearization, and it has fast and accurate mapping capability
The non-linearity in (10) is therefore cancelled and a [24]. Two steps are involved in the process: system identifica-
simplified relationship between the integral of the output tion, and controller design.
and the new input can be presented as:
1) System identification and controller design: The system
identification process involves collecting a set of training data
= (12) through experiments. This is achieved through varying inputs
to the system and observing the behaviour on the outputs. A
The wheel slip control is an output tracking problem. The set of corresponding inputs and outputs data is then used to
objective is to find a control action u(t), that will ensure train the neural network to estimate the systems dynamics.
the plant follows the desired slip trajectory within acceptable
boundaries, keeping all the states variables and controllers The system identification procedure is illustrated in Figure
bounded. On this basis, the following assumptions are nec- 2, where f is the reference slip input to both the ABS
essary [20]: system and the neural network model, p and m are the ABS
systems and NN models slip outputs respectively. The error
Assumption 1: The vehicle velocity v and wheel speed signal is used for the training of the NN model to estimate the
are measurable or observable. ABS system.
Assumption 2: The desired trajectory vector defined within
a compact subset of R% , i.e., d (t) Ud , is assumed to be
continuous, available for measurement, and kd (t)k x with
x as a known bound.
Let the tracking error (e) be given as:

e = (t) d (t) (13)

and let the new input be chosen as:

= d e (14) Fig. 2. System identification of ABS dynamics for NNFBL control

where is a positive constant. From (11) and (12) the The data set Zi n collected can be presented by Equation
closed-loop tracking error dynamics will be: 16.

e + e = 0 (15) Zi n = f {[ui (k), yi (k)] ; k = 1, 2 . . . , N } (16)

 TABLE I. S YSTEM IDENTIFICATION PARAMETERS AND NUMERICAL
where ui (k) is the input to the system, which is the braking VALUES
pressure (Pb ) and yi (k) the corresponding slip () output. k
Parameters Values
is the number of the sample instant and the total number of Number of layers 2
samples taken is n [25]. Number of hidden layer neurons 3
Number of past outputs 2
The multi-layered perceptron (MLP) network is employed Number of past inputs 2
for this work. A schematic representation of a typical MLP Number of iterations 500
Training algorithm Levenberg-Marquardt
with three layered neural network, made-up of an input layer, Maximum plant input 1500 N/m2
an output layer and one hidden layer is shown in Figure 3. Maximum plant output 0.18

TABLE II. R ESULT OF SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION

Parameters Results
Performance (MSE) 1.87 1010
Number of epoch 6

In the experimental phase, 25000 data-set is generated, this

is divided into three portions. 50% of the data is used for the
training of the neural network model, 25% is used for testing
the trained NN model and the remaining 25% is used for the
Fig. 3. Three-layered neural network structure
validation.
The parameters used for the neural network identification
Through the process of training, the adjustable weights process and their numerical values are presented in Table I. A
(Wij ),are determined from a set of training data (xi ) collected sampling time of 0.0001sec is used and the results obtained
during the experimentation stage. Using the MLP shown in are presented in Table II. The closed-loop block diagram of
y ) is given by:
Figure 3, the predicted output ( the NNFBL controller is shown in Figure 4.

Xq
y(t, ) = Vi Wij hj (w) + Wi0 (17)
j=1

where Vi is the activation function, hi is the input to the

hidden layer. If the training set is given by Equation (16); the
goal is to determine a mapping from the training data set to
possible weights, i.e. Z n so that the network predicts y(t)
as close as possible to the systems output y(t). The prediction
error is based on the mean square error criterion (MSE). The
sigmoid activation function vi is used in the hidden layer, and
is given by Equation 18.

1 Fig. 4. Block diagram of NNFBL controller

vi2 = (18)
1 + ehi1
where hi1 is given by: IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS AND C OMPARATIVE A NALYSIS
The goal of this study is to have good slip regulation and
m
X minimize the stopping distance, the controllers performance
hi1 = Wi1 i0 xi0 (19) are therefore, evaluated using three performance indices. These
i1 =0 Rtf 2
are; the integral squared error [ISE] of the slip ( d ) dt,
The back-propagation (BP) algorithm is employed to adjust 0
the neural networks weights aimed at minimizing the cost Rtf 2
the integral squared control input Tb dt, and the stopping
function given by Equation (20). This learning method has 0
a fast convergent rate [26], [27] and it is recommended for Rtf
most control applications and real-time implementations [27]. distance vdt (m) [28]. The desired performance will there-
0
fore be; small variations from the desired slip, less effective
n
1X
2 braking torque, to achieve a shorter stopping distance.
Ei2 = yd i2 (t) yi2 (t) (20)
n i=1 On the basis of the adopted quarter-car model, simulations
are conducted on a straight-line braking operation. Braking
where yd i2 (t) is the desired response and yi2 is the model commenced at an initial longitudinal velocity of 80km/h and
output of the ith
2 unit of the output layer and n is the number is terminated at speeds of about 4km/h. This is due to the
of training samples. fact that the slip tends to become unstable as the wheel speed
approaches zero as seen from Equation 6. The braking torque
is limited to 1200N m. The desired slip d is 0.18.
The parameters and numerical values for the quarter-car
are presented in Table III
TABLE III. S YSTEM PARAMETERS AND NUMERICAL VALUES

Symbol Description Value Unit

m Quarter car mass 395 kg
J Moment of inertia 1.6 N ms2 /rad
r Radius of wheel 0.3 m
C Vehicle viscous friction 0.856 kg/m
B Wheel viscous friction 0.08 N kgm2 /s
Hydraulic time constant 0.3 sec Fig. 7. Slip tracking on high friction surface ( = 0.85) using FBL controller
kb Hydraulic gain 0.8 Constant
g Gravitational acceleration 9.81 m/s2
d Desired slip ratio 0.18 Ratio

Simulation results for the vehicle and wheel deceleration

for both FBL and NNFBL controllers are shown in Figures
5 and 6. The vehicle deceleration is represented by dash-
lines while the wheel angular deceleration is represented by
a continuous line. Figures 7 and 8 gives the slip tracking plots
the desired slip is shown in dash-lines and the tracking slip
is shown as continuous line. The braking torque simulation
results are presented in Figures 9 and 10 for both the FBL
controller and the NNFBL controller respectively. The sum-
marised performance results are presented in Tables IV. Fig. 8. Slip tracking on high friction surface ( = 0.85) using NNFBL
controller

Fig. 5. Vehicle and wheel deceleration on high friction surface ( = 0.85)

using FBL controller Fig. 9. Braking torque on high friction surface ( = 0.85) using FBL
controller

Fig. 6. Vehicle and wheel deceleration on high friction surface ( = 0.85) Fig. 10. Braking torque on high friction surface ( = 0.85) using NNFBL
using NNFBL controller controller

The over-all performances of the two controllers can be

considered to be in-line with results obtained by other re-
searches and industry [28], [29]. The slip convergent rate does
not exhibit over-shoot and both controllers exhibit good slip
tracking. The braking torques remained below the set-limit of
1200N m. The FBL controller achieved stopping distance of
31m while the NNFBL controller achieved 29m. Chattering
can be observed in the plots of the braking torque for the FBL
controller (Figure 9). This chattering problem, which could
degrade the performance of the ABS and shorten components
life-span, has been evaded by the NNFBL controller (Figure
 TABLE IV. S IMULATION RESULTS FOR = 0.85 ROAD CONDITION
[12] E. Kayacan, Y. Oniz, and O. Kaynak, A grey system modeling
Performance parameters Specs FBL NNFBL approach for sliding-mode control of antilock braking system, IEEE
tf Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 3244 3252,
Slip variation ( d )2 dt(106 )
R
min 65.990 1.704 aug. 2009.
0
tf [13] Y. Oniz, E. Kayacan, and O. Kaynak, Simulated and experimental
Tb 2 dt(N m)2 (105 )
R
Braking torque min 2.411 4.161 study of antilock braking system using grey sliding mode control,
0
tf in IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics
Stopping distance
R
vdt(m) 50 31 29 (ISIC), Montreal, Canada, oct. 2007, pp. 90 95.
0
[14] M. Tanelli, A. Astolfi, and S. Savaresi, Robust nonlinear proportional-
integral control for active braking control systems, in Proceedings of
the 45th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, San Diego, USA,
10). 2006, pp. 1745 1750.
[15] J. Cao, H. Liu, P. Li, and B. D.J., State of the art in vehicle active sus-
pension adaptive control systems based on intelligent methodologies,
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 9, no. 3,
V. C ONCLUSION pp. 392 405, 2008.
[16] A. Poursamad, Adaptive feedback linearization control of antilock
Two ABS controllers have been proposed as alternatives to braking systems using neural networks, Mechatronics, vol. 19, no. 5,
current bang-bang ABS controllers commonly used in com- pp. 767 773, 2009.
mercial vehicles. A comparative study of their performances [17] T. Bera, K. Bhattacharja, and A. Samantaray, Evaluation of antilock
have been evaluated. Simulation results revealed that the two braking system with an integrated model of full vehicle system dynam-
proposed controllers are able to meet desired performance ics, Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory, vol. 19, pp. 2131
criteria hence establishing their effectiveness as alternatives 2150, 2011.
to current ABS. The NNFBL exhibits a more superior per- [18] J. Hedrick and A. Girard, Feedback Linearization, 2005. [On-
line]. Available: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/ME237/8feedbacklin.pdf,
formance than the FBL, in that it recorded shorter stopping November 2011
distances and does not exhibit any chattering of the braking
[19] S. Ball, E. Barany, S. Schaffer, and K. Wedeward, Nonlinear control
torque. Future work aims to evaluate these proposed ABS of power network models using feedback linearization, in Proceedings
controllers on a laboratory ABS test rig. of the Third IASTED International Conference on Circuits, Signals and
Systems, Marina CA, USA, 2005, pp. 493 800.
[20] A. Yesildirek and F. L. Lewis, Adaptive feedback linearization using
R EFERENCES efficient neural networks, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems,
vol. 31, no. 1-3, pp. 253281, 2001.
[1] D. Burton, A. Delaney, S. Newstead, D. Logan, and B. Fildes, [21] A. Pukrittayakamee, O. De Jesus, and M. Hagan, Smoothing the
Effectiveness of ABS and vehicle stability control systems, Royal control action for NARMA-L2 controllers, in The 45th Midwest
Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) Ltd., Tech. Rep., 2004. Symposium on Circuits and Systems ( MWSCAS), Tulsa, Oklahoma,
[2] C. J. Kahane, Preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of antilock USA, vol. 3, 2002, pp. III37 III40.
brake systems for passenger cars, U.S. Department of Transportation, [22] M. Wahyudi, S. Mokri, and A. Shafie, Real time implementation of
NHTSA, Tech. Rep., 1994. NARMA L2 feedback linearization and smoothed NARMA L2 controls
[3] E. Hertz, Analysis of the crash experience of vehicles equipped with all of a single link manipulator, in Proceedings of the International
wheel antilock braking systems (ABS)- a second update including vehi- Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering (ICCCE),
cles with optional ABS, U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2008, pp. 691 697.
Tech. Rep., September 2000. [23] K. Srakaew, J. Kananai, and R. Chancharoen, Trajectory control of
[4] S. Anwar, An anti-lock braking control system for a hybrid electro- a nonlinear dynamical system using NARMA L2 neurocontroller,
magnetic/electrohydraulic brake-by-wire system, in Proceedings of the Journal of Computer and Information Technology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp.
American Control Conference, Boston MA, USA, vol. 3, July 2004, pp. 11 17, 2011.
2699 2704. [24] A. Akbarimajd and S. Kia, NARMA-L2 controller for 2-DoF under-
[5] S. Solyom, Control of systems with limited capacity, Ph.D. disserta- actuated planar manipulator, in Proceedings of the 11th International
tion, Department of Automatic Control, Lund Institute of Technology, Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, Singapore,
SE-221 00 Lund Sweden, 2004. 2010, pp. 195 200.
[6] I. Petersen, Wheel slip control in abs brakes using gain scheduled [25] J. Pedro, O. Nyandoro, and S. John, Neural network-based feedback
optimal control with constraints, Ph.D. dissertation, Department of linearisation slip control of an anti-lock braking system, in Proceedings
Enginnering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Tech- of the 7th Asian Control Conference ( ASCC), Hong Kong, aug. 2009,
nology, Trondheim, Norway, 2003. pp. 1251 1257.
[7] K. Dietsche and M. Klingebiel, Automotive Handbook, 7th ed. Robert [26] M. Norgaard, O. Ravn, N. Poulsen, and L. Hansen, Neural Networks
Bosch GmbH, Plochingen, Germany, 2007. for Modelling and Control of Dynamic Systems: A Practitioners
Handbook. Springer-Verlag, London, 2003.
[8] F. Jiang and Z. Gao, An application of nonlinear PID control to a class
of truck ABS problems, in Proceedings of the 40th IEEE Conference [27] L. Behera and I. Kar, Intelligent Systems and Control Principles and
on Decision and Control, Orlando, Florida, USA, vol. 1, 2001, pp. 516 Applications. Oxford University Press, India, 2009.
521. [28] H. Mirzaeinejad and M. Mirzaei, A novel method for non-linear
control of wheel slip in anti-lock braking systems, Control Engineering
[9] S. John, J. Pedro, and C. Pozna, Enhanced slip control performance
Practice, vol. 18, no. 8, pp. 918 926, 2010.
using nonlinear passive suspension system, in Proceedings of the
IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mecha- [29] T. Shelley. (2012, January) Advances in pneumatics
tronics (AIM), Budapest, Hungary, July 2011, pp. 277 282. are being applied to improve dramatically the effi-
ciency of lorry braking. Web-page. EUREKA. [Online].
[10] A. ODwyer, Handbook of PI and PID Controller Tuning Rules, 3rd ed.
Available: http://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/article/12898/braking-
Imperial College Press, London, 2009.
through.aspx, January 2012
[11] Y. Jing, Y. Mao, G. Dimirovski, Y. Zheng, and S. Zhang, Adaptive
global sliding mode control strategy for the vehicle antilock braking
systems, in Proceedings of the American Control Conference (ACC
09), Missouri, USA, june 2009, pp. 769 773.