1 The second International Conference on Engineering Mechanics and Automation (ICEMA2) Hanoi, August 16-17, 2012 Sliding mode control of a dual clutch during launch V.N.Tran a,b , J. Lauber b and M.Dambrine b a University of Transport and Communication, Hanoi, Vietnam, nhutrv@gmail.com b LAMIH – University of Valenciennes and Haunait Cambresis, Le Mont Houy, 59300 Valenciennes, France {vannhu.tran, jimmy.lauber, michel.dambrine}@univ-valenciennes.fr Abstract The Automated Manual Transmission was introduced in vehicles to improve driving comfort, performances and fuel efficiency compared with manual transmissions. In this system, the management of the clutch is a key point especially when considering driving comfort. In this paper, we propose a control law for clutch engagement based on sliding mode control. The goal is to ensure a smooth clutch engagement while limiting slip clutch and avoiding engine no-stall. To achieve this goal, the speed of clutch slip and engine speed are controlled in order to track reference trajectories. In addition, some parametric variations of the model are also considered. Several simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of proposed control law. Key Words: Dual clutch, Clutch slip control, Non-linear models, Trajectory tracking, Sliding control 1. Introduction Recently, with the increasing use of Automated Manual Transmissions (AMT), the control of a clutch has become an important challenge. Nowadays, there exist two technologies for automated lay-shaft gearing transmissions. One uses a single clutch and is basically a manual transmission with an added-on control unit that automates the clutch and shift operations. The other one, using a Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), consists of two independents sub- boxes, each one activated by separate clutches: on-coming clutch and off-going clutch. A shift process involves the engagement of the on-coming clutch and the release of the off-going clutch to ensure a shift without traction interruption. The problems associated with AMT in literature, are the engagement of the clutch, the strategy of gearshift, and also the control of the actuator. The goal is to reduce the jerk in standing start and gearshift and thus ensure a good driveability and also reduce fuel consumption and emission of 2 CO . Specifically, the dry clutch engagement must be controlled to satisfy conflicting objectives such as minimizing the slip energy and preservation of driving comfort. To achieve these goals, many different approaches based on an optimal problem can