An application of equation error identification techniques to the problem of vehicular drag parameter determination

A system identification technique is applied to a vehicle undergoing a coastdown test for the determination of the aerodynamic and rolling resistance of the vehicle. The method presented identifies these characteristics without imposing any assumption on their relationships with velocity. The results of the identification technique developed show close accuracy with respect to actual vehicle values. This technique can be used in either off-line applications by means of recorded data or in on-line applications by implementing an on-board mini computer which processes the coastdown test data in real time.