Design and Implementation of Active Brake Pedal Simulator Integrating Force Feedback and Energy Optimization

Brake pedals and wheel braking units are mechanically decoupled in brake-by-wire systems. This causes the driver to lose the familiar pedal feel. To address this issue, this paper designed an active braking pedal simulator based on the long-travel Halbach-array linear motor. Firstly, this paper conducted both qualitative and quantitative analyses on the pedal characteristics of a traditional hydraulic braking system and used them as a reference. A dual-coil independent control strategy was designed in order to overcome the thrust instability at the junction of the Halbach-array magnetic field. This enables the linear motor to achieve smooth and continuous thrust output throughout the entire travel range. Secondly, this paper also designed a “linear motor + spring” solution to reduce energy consumption and peak motor thrust. By conducting a quantitative analysis of the relationship between the spring stiffness, motor work and peak thrust, the spring stiffness was optimized. The results show that when the spring stiffness is 3.73 N/mm, the motor work can be reduced to 5.92 Joules while significantly reducing the peak thrust. Finally, this paper also established a testing platform. It was used to verify the performance of the proposed pedal simulator under low-intensity, medium-intensity, and high-intensity braking conditions as well as an anti-lock braking system intervention. The testing results show that the pedal simulator can actively adjust the pedal characteristics according to the braking intensity, and it can provide clear vibration feedback during the anti-lock braking system intervention. Therefore, the proposed pedal simulator effectively simulates the pedal feel of hydraulic braking systems while improving energy efficiency and operational stability. It provides a feasible solution for enhancing the driver–vehicle interaction and the driving comfort of brake-by-wire systems.