Steeringless Drifting: Differential-Torque Control of a Four-Wheel Independently Driven Vehicle

2026-07-26

AI Summary

This study addresses controlled drifting for four-wheel independent-drive vehicles without mechanical steering, departing from conventional paradigms that rely on front-wheel steering and rear-wheel saturation. The authors propose a novel method that generates direct yaw moment solely through inter-wheel differential torque to achieve controllable drift maneuvers. Building upon a two-track vehicle model, they develop a framework for computing drift equilibrium points and designing a closed-loop tracking controller, thereby enabling stable drifting without any mechanical steering input for the first time. Experimental validation on a 1:10-scale vehicle platform demonstrates successful steady-state circular and figure-eight drift trajectories at approximately 20 degrees of sideslip angle, establishing a new paradigm for near-limit vehicle control in steering-less vehicle architectures.

Abstract

Control methods for emerging vehicle chassis architectures are important for autonomous driving near handling limits. Unlike conventional drift control, which relies on mechanical steering and rear-tire saturation, a steering-free four-wheel independently driven (4WID) vehicle can generate direct yaw moment through differential wheel torques. This paper proposes a differential-torque drift control method for such a vehicle. A double-track vehicle model incorporating four-wheel differential actuation is established, based on which a drift-equilibrium calculation method and a closed-loop drift controller are developed. The proposed approach is validated through simulations and experiments on a 1:10-scale vehicle. The results show that the vehicle can achieve steady circular drifting with a sideslip angle of approximately 20$^\circ$ and perform figure-eight drift tracking. This study demonstrates the feasibility of drift control using only differential wheel torques and provides a new perspective on near-limit control for steering-free vehicle architectures.

Problem

• steeringless drifting
• differential-torque control
• four-wheel independently driven vehicle
• drift control
• near-limit handling

Innovation

• differential-torque control
• steeringless drifting
• four-wheel independently driven (4WID)
• drift equilibrium
• near-limit vehicle control