Experimental assessment of a PID control solution for braking safety of transportation by agricultural tractor trailer combinations

Huge numbers of agricultural tractor trailer combinations are used for transportation. Many of the combinations rely on over-run braking on trailers. On-road transportation by the combination is being increased by increasing speed and mass capacities due to market pressure. A significant braking safety issue during on-road transportation is dealt with in this work. Proportional integral derivative (PID) control is proposed as a transitional solution towards domination of new tech equipment. Conventional and proposed PID brake controls were compared experimentally by a loaded real world scale agricultural tractor trailer combination. A double axle (front and rear) trailer with 8 tons load was used for dry asphalt road conditions and 0.35 seconds lag time detected between manual and PID controlled braking. Loss of driving stability was reduced by 50% and deceleration increased 21% with PID. Jack-knifing phenomenon is also evaluated. Proposed solution covers an important safety issue and improves braking performance.