Digital design

The study introduces a proof-of-concept self-adaptive neural network model predictive control (SA-NNMPC) system, which uses a neural network as main component of the prediction model, for the anti-jerk control of electric vehicles. Through the adaptation mechanism of the network and cost function weights during vehicle operation, which is activated when the plant behaves significantly differently from its digital twin, the SA-NNMPC architecture adjusts to the progressive vehicle aging, or to the replacement of hardware parts, which is expected to be an important feature of next-generation vehicles. Validation tests and simulations show that the neural network accurately replicates the drivetrain dynamics of the considered electric vehicle, and, for nominal conditions, already leads to a performance improvement of the NNMPC implementation – which can run in real-time on a rapid control prototyping unit – with respect to a benchmarking nonlinear model predictive anti-jerk controller. Moreover, the preliminary simulation results confirm the potential of the proposed architecture in terms of: i) adaptability to operating conditions not covered in the original training, and variations of vehicle parameters; and ii) auto-tuning of the algorithm when applied to different vehicles.