Observer-based optimal control of dry clutch engagement

Optimal control of the engagement of a dry clutch is examined paying particular attention to the driver´s comfort. Due to the strong constraints and large errors of the torque control for internal combustion engines, only the normal force on the clutch disks is considered as controlled input. The resulting analytically derived controller is used in an observer- based trajectory tracking system whose performances have been tested on a highly realistic nonlinear model yielding very good results.