Data-driven clamping force control for an Electric Parking Brake without speed measurement

This paper addresses the control of the clamping force provided by an Electric Parking Brake (EPB). A simple on-off strategy is implemented: the device is actuated until the actual force reaches the target value maintaining the vehicle in a steady position. The effectiveness of the control is then highly depending on the quality of the clamping force estimation. The proposed estimator relies on the sole DC motor current and voltage signals and does not require the knowledge of any physical parameters nor the measurement of the DC motor angular displacement. Extensive eperimental tests show the robustness of the proposed strategy with respect to different operating and aging conditions.