IAEAC 2021(ISSN 2689-6621)
Simulation of Automobile Brake System Based on
PID Algorithm
Zhi Liu
2021 IEEE 5th Advanced Information Technology, Electronic and Automation Control Conference (IAEAC) | 978-1-7281-8028-1/20/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IAEAC50856.2021.9390707
Electrical Engineering College
Henan University of science and technology
Luoyang, China
782509087@qq.com
Abstract—The automobile safety system has become an
important part of automobile research and development. The
driving anti-slip control system can make full use of the
maximum adhesion of the ground and prevent the excessive
slip of the driving wheel in the starting and accelerating
driving process on low adhesion, separation and split roads,
so as to improve the tractive trafficability, directional stability
and steering maneuverability of the vehicle. In this paper,
simulation model of ABS Vehicle based on single wheel is
designed in which PID control algorithm is adopted.
Simulation results show that the slip rate becomes stable by
online adjusting Kp, Ki, Kd three parameters properly. The
PID control can be well applied in anti-sideslip of automobile.
Keywords—PID control, anti-slip control, automobile
braking, PID parameter
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the driving safety of vehicles has been
widely concerned by people, and people's requirements for
the safety performance of vehicles are constantly
improving[1]. Therefore, the automobile safety system has
become an important part of automobile research and
development. Acceleration slip regulation (ASR) is an
active safety device, which can make the driving wheel of
the vehicle get the best longitudinal driving force under the
bad road and complex road conditions according to the
driving behavior of the vehicle, and can prevent the driving
wheel from excessive slip during the driving process, such
as starting, accelerating, turning and so on, so as to maintain
the directional stability and steering control ability and
improve the driving efficiency high acceleration
performance, etc. Automotive safety system is an important
part in the field of automotive research. It is a research
direction of automotive industry to deeply study automotive
active safety devices, and improve the vehicle handing and
ride comfort in acceleration, turning and other driving
processes in harsh and complex road conditions[2].
The driving anti-slip control system realizes the best
traction performance of driving wheels by adjusting the slip
ratio of driving wheels. Its principle is to make the car
automatically control the wheels in the slip ratio range with
large longitudinal and lateral adhesion coefficients. On hard
road, the best slip ratio of driving wheel is about 15% -
30%[3]. The driving anti-slip control system can make full
use of the maximum adhesion of the ground and prevent the
excessive slip of the driving wheel in the starting and
accelerating driving process on low adhesion, separation
and split roads, so as to improve the tractive trafficability,
directional stability and steering maneuverability of the
vehicle.
II. CONTROL METHOD OF DRIVING ANTI-SLIP
The anti-slip control strategy is different according to
different driving conditions. At present, different control
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strategies are adopted according to different vehicle speeds.
The main control principles are as follows: anti-slip control
principle at the vehicle start and acceleration stage, anti-slip
control principle at medium speed of vehicle running and
anti-slip control principle at high speed of vehicle running
[4]. The pertinence control is implemented according to the
car in different driving stages, so that the driving condition
of the vehicle to achieve the best.
There are many control methods for driving anti-slip,
and logic threshold control is the most common control
method. With the improvement of people's requirements for
vehicle safety and the development of engine technology,
hardware and software technology, electronic technology
and automatic control technology, in order to explore and
seek more effective, simple and feasible control method,
many scholars and experts at home and abroad begin to
study the control method of driving anti-slip. After a lot of
theoretical research and analysis, the vehicle drive anti-slip
control is developing in the direction of practicality and
diversification[5]. With the development of automobile
anti-slip control system, the control technology has been
relatively mature, mainly including traditional logic
threshold control, PID control based on classical control
theory, optimal control based on modern control theory,
sliding mode variable structure control and fuzzy intelligent
control based on intelligent control[5].
The logic threshold control method is common used. By
analyzing the acceleration and deceleration in the process of
automobile braking, the threshold value is set up to control
the wheel speed in real time. The control method is simple.
However, due to different vehicle models and different
roads, the threshold values are not the same, the control
effect is not accurate enough, and a long braking distance is
required[6]. Compared with other braking methods, sliding
mode variable structure control can obtain better braking
efficiency, but in the process of using this method, how to
select the parameters is an important aspect of sliding mode
variable structure control. The fuzzy control method is
similar to the fuzzy reasoning method of human brain,
which can form certain control rules combined with
practical experience[6]. Fuzzy control method does not
need to establish an accurate mathematical model, it has
good robustness, but relatively, control accuracy is difficult
to control. PID control has been widely used in various
fields, through the error feedback control, the ideal control
effect can be obtained as long as the specific target value is
selected.
As far as the anti-lock braking process is concerned,
each control algorithm has certain advantages under
different working conditions and driving conditions.
Compared with the comprehensive performance, the PID
control algorithm has high performance in the realization
method and control precision. Therefore, in this paper, the
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PID algorithm is used in the simulation modeling when the where, m is the mass of the whole vehicle; v is the speed of
controller is designed. the vehicle; Fx is the ground braking force; I is the moment
of inertia of the wheel; R is the rolling radius of the wheel;
III. SIMULATION MODEL OF ABS VEHICLE BASED ON  is the angular velocity of the wheel; Mb is the braking
SINGLE WHEEL torque; μ is the adhesion coefficient between the wheel and
Automobile is a complex nonlinear system. Under the ground; N is the normal reaction of the wheel to the
different working conditions, the engine has different ground.
working characteristics. The wear characteristics of tire and
brake, the change of vehicle speed and load and many other v  wr
factors make the system show a strong time-varying  S  * 100% 
characteristics. In addition, the working environment of the v
automobile is complex, so the anti-interference ability of the
system is required. Rapid and agile control is another where S is the vehicle slip ratio; v is the vehicle body speed;
important factor in the control process. Most of the control w is the wheel angular speed; r is the wheel radius [8].
systems require milliseconds or even shorter, which limits Based on this, the Simulink model of single wheel ABS
the application of complex control algorithms, because vehicle is established.
complex algorithms can not meet the requirements of fast
and agile control; However, too simple control algorithm As shown in Figure 2, the Simulink model based on
can not get ideal control effect, and can not meet the single wheel anti-lock braking vehicle is established.
requirements. All of these bring great difficulties to the
design and research of drive anti-slip control system. Due
to the rapid development of computer and the demand of
modern control theory, some complex control algorithms
have been applied in some industrial production, such as
nonlinear control, optimal control, adaptive control, etc. In
terms of control theory, the main control methods that can
effectively control the excessive slip of automobile driving
wheels are logic threshold control, PID control, fuzzy
control, neural network control, sliding mode variable
structure control and optimal control[7]. This paper mainly
studies PID control.
In order to simplify the research problem, the single
wheel vehicle system model is adopted, the effect of load Fig. 2. Simulink model of single wheel ABS vehicle
transfer, air resistance, wheel rolling resistance, suspension
system and steering system is ignored. The single wheel This model is used in the process of anti-lock braking.
vehicle model is shown in Figure 1. Slip ratio is the main control parameter. The main control
aim is to make the slip ratio of the wheel as close to or equal
to the optimal slip ratio of 0.2 [7].

TABLE I. VEHICLE RELATED PARAMETERS

1/4 Vehicle mass m/kg 390

Wheel moment of inertia J/kgm2 1.7

Wheel radius R/m 0.3

Acceleration of gravity g/ms-2 9.8

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of single wheel vehicle model Optimum slip ratio Sc 0.2

Vehicle motion equation: Peak adhesion coefficient s 0.8

Adhesion coefficient of brake lock g 0.7

1
mv  Fx 
4
Wheel motion equation:

I   Fx R  M b 
Wheel longitudinal friction:
Fx  N  
Initial speed during braking V0/ms-1 20
Brake proportional factor 3000
IV. PID PARAMETER SIMULATION OF BRAKING PROCESS
A. PID Algorithm
Since the emergence of PID controller, it has been
rapidly developed and widely used in the field of industrial
control. It has the advantages of simple structure, easy
implementation and good performance, and is widely used
in different fields. When other technologies of control

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theory are difficult to adopt, the structure and parameters of In the simulation, we make a more complete simulation
the system controller must be determined by experience and on the braking process, which is an important part.
on-site debugging[9]. That is, when we do not fully
understand a system and controlled object, or can not obtain B. Simulation Debugging
system parameters through effective measurement means, it According to the existing model and vehicle system
is the most convenient way to apply the PID control parameters, in the absence of PID control, when the vehicle
technology. brakes at high speed, there will be serious locking
phenomenon. In order to compare with the PID control
PID control algorithm has been well applied in system, we simulate the braking process without PID
production, because it does not need accurate model, nor control. The simulation results are as follows:
does it need the linearity of the system, so the algorithm is
simple and reliable. Therefore, it has been well applied in
the industrial field. The PID control algorithm is simple and
convenient. As long as the proportional Kp, integral Ki and
differential coefficients Kd are properly adjusted, the ideal
control effect can be obtained.
In this paper, the method of trial and error is used.
The Steps of adjusting PID parameters by using trial and
error method:
When |e(t)| is large, in order to speed up the response
speed of the system and reduce or eliminate the static error
in a short time, Kp should be increased, so that the time
constant and damping coefficient of the system can be
reduced. But Kp should not be too large, otherwise the
system will be unstable; In order to avoid the large
overshoot of the controlled object which may be caused by
the system at the beginning of control, the smaller Kd should
be taken in order to speed up the response time of the system. Fig. 3. Slip ratio without PID control
In order to avoid the large overshoot, the integral coefficient
Ki can be taken as zero. It can be seen from figure 3 that without PID control, the
When |e(t)| is in medium size, smaller Kp should be wheel speed oscillates repeatedly, which leads to serious
taken to reduce the overshoot of system response. At this divergent oscillation of slip rate, which can not be stabilized
time, choosing a reasonable Kd value is the key. In order to within the controllable range, and the phenomenon of
ensure the response speed of the system, Kd value should be multiple dead time occurs, which further affects the braking
appropriate. At this time, Ki value can be increased performance and further diverges.
appropriately, but not too much. Due to the repeated oscillation of slip rate, we can also
When |e(t)| is small, in order to make the system have see from figure 4 that the braking torque is also seriously
good stability performance, larger Kp and Ki can be used. In unstable.
order to avoid the oscillation of the system at the
equilibrium point, the value of Kd should not be too large or
too small.
In the PID controller, the choice of parameters is not
unique. According to the needs and the changes of the
system, each parameter can be adjusted effectively and
reasonably. The effects of Kp, Ki and Kd are different. In the
actual control process, the decrease of one parameter can be
compensated by the increase of other parameters. Therefore,
it is possible to get the same control effect with different
setting parameters.
In the drive anti-slip control, PID is based on the sliding
rate to implement proportion, integral and differential on
error signal, and finally send the sum of them to the
controlled object. In the drive anti-slip control, the
difference between the target slip rate and the actual wheel
Fig. 4. Braking torque without PID control
slip rate is taken as the input of the system. According to the
change of the slip rate, the throttle opening angle is Figure 5 below shows the comparison of wheel speed
calculated and fed back to the engine to adjust the output and vehicle speed without PID control:
torque of the engine, or the braking torque is controlled by
controlling the braking system to make the slip rate near the
target slip rate [10, 11].

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 The I link can increase the system type and achieve no
steady-state error or reduce the steady-state error. However,
it will also make the system stability worse, as shown in
Figure 8. As shown in Figure 9, when the proportion link is
appropriate, taking an inappropriate I value will also lead to
the instability of slip ratio [12].
D Link can achieve effective state prediction, which
improves the stability of the system, but it is not easy to
achieve large D value in practical application.

Fig. 5. Wheel braking process without PID control, red for vehicle speed,
blue for wheel speed

As can be seen from figure 6, without control strategy,

when braking, the wheels will lock up seriously. Simple
feedback brake will cause serious oscillation of wheel speed
and creeping of vehicle speed, resulting in dangerous
phenomena such as sideslip and rollover.
Finally, without PID control, the braking distance will
Fig. 7. Slip rate when P link is too large
be short, but in fact, the tire will not be as stable as the ideal
state in the simulation when it is completely locked, the
sudden situation such as sideslip and rollover will happen
and lead to brake failure and traffic accidents.

Fig. 8. System instability caused by too large I link

Fig. 6. Braking distance without PID control

Compared with the above control effect without PID,

the simulation is carried out after adding PID regulator in
the slip rate control part. PID controller is a kind of linear
controller. According to the control deviation between the
given value r(t) and the actual output c(t), the simulation
model of PID controller is added as a subsystem to the
controller box of Simulink model of single wheel anti-lock
braking (ABS) vehicle in Figure 2. Thus, the simulation
diagram of the whole system is formed.
In the process of adjustment, P link is adjusted firstly.
The larger the proportion link, the higher the accuracy of the
system, the faster the adjustment speed will be. But too large
proportion link will cause the system to lose stability. So
first we adjust the appropriate P value. It can be seen from Fig. 9. The adjustment process of D makes the system stable gradually
figure 7 that when P value is too large, the slip rate diverges,
where P value is 100.

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 According to the law of PID regulation method and by
using trial and error method, the appropriate control
proportion is finally determined, where Kp=10.4, Ki=0.62,
and Kd =1, the simulation result of slip rate is shown in
Figure 10.
Fig. 10. Slip rate curve of the system under PID control
From the figure, we can see that after PID adjustment,
the slip rate tends to the final stable state of 0.2 in a
relatively short time.
After adjusting the slip rate, the characteristics of other
state parameters of the system are surveyed, as shown in
Figure 11, which shows the comparison of wheel speed and
vehicle speed. It can be seen from the figure that, compared
with the case without PID control, both wheel speed and
vehicle speed have achieved a smooth decline, and the
relative speed is low and stable. This shows that the ABS
system is very important.
Fig. 11. Simulation results of PID control of the system. Blue is wheel
speed and red is vehicle speed
The below figure shows the response curve of braking
torque and braking distance.
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Fig. 12. Response curve of braking torque
Fig. 13. Response curve of braking distance
It can be seen from the figure that the braking torque
increases sharply at the initial time, but tends to be stable in
a very short time. At the same time, the wheel force also
tends to be stable, so that the slip rate gradually becomes
stable. Because there is a reverse braking process in the
braking process, the braking distance in the ideal state is
increased, in the actual situation, this will greatly increase
the safety performance, and greatly reduce the probability
of sideslip in the braking process.
Through the simulation curve image and PID control
slip rate curve based on the PID control method, it can be
seen that PID control can get better control effect by online
adjusting Kp, Ki, Kd three parameters.
V. CONCLUSION
PID control not only has good adaptability, but also has
the advantages of both control precision and control speed.
It has high control precision, less braking time, fast response
of slip rate curve and small overshoot. PID control can be
well applied in anti-sideslip of automobile. This paper only
studies on the basis of single wheel model. It can not explain
the whole vehicle situation very well. In the future research,
we will develop two-wheel model or four-wheel model on
the basis of improving the single wheel model, and
introduce more external conditions of the vehicle, such as
road conditions, steering angle and so on, to simulate and
get more accurate results.
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