Fond of cars and vehicle dynamics, I am contacted right after my National Service by Prof. Michel Fayet from INSA Lyon to engaged in a PhD thesis financed by Renault Trucks aiming to develop an objective methodology to master the handling trucks feature.
Mostly working at the Renault Trucks premises, I create and develop a new software dedicated to the simulation and the analysis of the lateral dynamics (yaw rate and side slip) combined with a multistage roll dynamics. The stationary analysis includes non-linear specifications, especially for the tires, while the transient and frequential responses are computed with a linearized model.
Matlab becomes my best friend, and together, we remove all scientific computation roadblocks in simulations and signal processing.
This approach, promoted by Jean-Pierre Brossard, who transmitted his truly passion for Vehicle Dynamics to two generations of students at INSA Lyon, will facilitate the implementation of parametric sensitivity analysis and numerical filtering identification of field data.
I defend my thesis “Objective method for the study of the heavy commercial vehicle handling behavior” in 1996.