Estimation of the Maximum Tire-Road Friction Coefficient

Abstract

We develop and test a “slip-based” method to estimate the maximum available tire-road friction during braking. The method is based on the hypothesis that the low-slip, low-μ parts of the slip curve used during normal driving can indicate the maximum tire-road friction coefficient, μmax. We find support for this hypothesis in the literature and through experiments. The friction estimation algorithm uses data from short braking maneuvers with peak accelerations of 3.9 m/s2 to classify the road surface as either dry μmax≈1 or lubricated μmax≈0.6. Significant measurement noise makes it difficult to detect the subtle effect being measured, leading to a misclassification rate of 20%.