La commande du système de Direction Assistée Electrique (DAE) est un défi majeur en raison de ses multiples objectifs et de la nécessitée de réaliser plusieurs mesures pour la mettre en oeuvre. La commande doit assurer : le suivi du couple d’assistance de référence tout en assurant la stabilité du système et sans introduire des retards, l’atténuation des vibrations provoquées par chacune des entrées du système, la transmission des informations de la route au conducteur pour un bon confort et une meilleure sensation de conduite, l’amélioration de la performance de retour au centre. La commande doit également être robuste vis-à-vis des erreurs de modélisation, des incertitudes des paramètres, et des perturbations extérieures. En outre, la mise en oeuvre de la commande nécessite plusieurs mesures telles que : l’angle au volant, l’angle du moteur, la vitesse du moteur, le couple conducteur et le couple de réaction de la route. / The control of Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) system is a challengingproblem due to the multiple objectives and the need of several pieces of information to implement the control. The control objectives are to generate assist torque with fast responses to driver’s torque commands, insure system stability, attenuate vibrations, transmit the road information to the driver, and improve the steering wheel returnability and free control performance. The control must also be robust against modeling errors and parameter uncertainties. In addition, several pieces of information are required to implement the control, such as steering wheel angle, motor velocity, driver torque and road reaction torque.

Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) systems (also known as Active Chassis systems) are mechatronic systems developed for improving vehicle comfort, handling and/or stability. Traditionally, most of these systems have been individually developed and manufactured by various suppliers and utilised by automotive manufacturers. These decentralised control systems usually improve one aspect of vehicle performance and in some cases even worsen some other features of the vehicle. Although the benefit of the stand-alone VDC systems has been proven, however, by increasing the number of the active systems in vehicles, the importance of controlling them in a coordinated and integrated manner to reduce the system complexity, eliminate the possible conflicts as well as expand the system operational envelope, has become predominant. The subject of Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control (IVDC) for improving the overall vehicle performance in the existence of several VDC active systems has recently become the topic of many research and development activities in both academia and industries Several approaches have been proposed for integration of vehicle control systems, which range from the simple and obvious solution of networking the sensors, actuators and processors signals through different protocols like CAN or FlexRay, to some sort of complicated multi-layered, multi-variable control architectures. In fact, development of an integrated control system is a challenging multidisciplinary task and should be able to reduce the complexity, increase the flexibility and improve the overall performance of the vehicle. The aim of this thesis is to develop a low-cost control scheme for integration of Electric Power-Assisted Steering (EPAS) system with Enhanced Stability Program (ESP) system to improve driver comfort as well as vehicle safety. In this dissertation, a systematic approach toward a modular, flexible and reconfigurable control architecture for integrated vehicle dynamics control systems is proposed which can be implemented in real time environment with low computational cost. The proposed control architecture, so named “Integrated Vehicle Control System (IVCS)”, is customised for integration of EPAS and ESP control systems. IVCS architecture consists of three cascade control loops, including high-level vehicle control, low-level (steering torque and brake slip) control and smart actuator (EPAS and EHB) control systems. The controllers are designed based on Youla parameterisation (closed-loop shaping) method. A fast, adaptive and reconfigurable control allocation scheme is proposed to coordinate the control of EPAS and ESP systems. An integrated ESP & ESP HiL/RCP system including the real EPAS and Electro Hydraulic Brake (EHB) smart actuators integrated with a virtual vehicle model (using CarMaker/HiL®) with driver in the loop capability is designed and utilised as a rapid control development platform to verify and validate the developed control systems in real time environment. Integrated Vehicle Dynamic Control is one of the most promising and challenging research and development topics. A general architecture and control logic of the IVDC system based on a modular and reconfigurable control allocation scheme for redundant systems is presented in this research. The proposed fault tolerant configuration is applicable for not only integrated control of EPAS and ESP system but also for integration of other types of the vehicle active systems which could be the subject of future works.

The thesis deals with processes that are under way on the international political scene focused on bringing about change in international trade rules. The aim is to analyze to what extent are taken into account interests and development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. Examination of links between international trade on one hand, and development and poverty alleviation on the other hand, has emerged as one of the top issues of development studies. They consider a more substantial integration of sub-Saharan Africa countries into flows of international trade as one of the forms of efficient support to the African development efforts. Actually, two key trade negotiations are taking place -- the Doha Development Agenda under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation, and the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations between the European Union and the ACP countries. The negotiations have proven to be politically sensible and up to now have failed in reaching an agreement. The present thesis seeks, therefore, to explore the reasons for the failure.