Optimal decoupled control for dry clutch engagement

To improve the shift quality of a vehicle equipped with an automated manual transmission, the dry clutch engagement process needs to be controlled precisely. This paper proposes to generate the optimal engine and clutch reference speeds based on the optimal control theory. The gear-shift duration weight is used to balance the performance of gear-shift duration and shift smoothness to ensure fast engagement (low slipping loss) with smooth shift. A simplified vehicle system model is developed for the vehicle level simulation validation; and a decoupled controller is used to study the vehicle launch process. Numerical simulation results indicated that the balanced shift performance can be achieved through using decoupled tracking control of the optimal reference speeds during the clutch engagement process.