Planar electronic devices represent an attractive approach towards roll-to-roll printed electronics without the need for the sequential, precisely aligned, patterning steps inherent in the fabrication of conventional ‘3D’ electronic devices. Self-switching diodes (SSDs) and in-plane-gate field-effect transistors (IPG-FETs) can be patterned using a single process into a substrate precoated with semiconductor.These devices function in depletion mode, requiring the semiconductor to be doped in order for the devices to function. To achieve this, a reliable and controllable method was developed for doping organic semiconducting polymers by the immersion of optimally deposited films in a solution of dopant. The process was shown to apply both semicrystalline and air-stable, amorphous materials indicating that the approach is broadly applicable to a wide range of organic semiconductors.Simultaneously with the development of the doping protocol specialised hot-embossing equipment was designed and constructed and a high-yielding method of patterning the structures of IPG-FETs and SSDs was arrived at. This method allowed for consistent and reliable patterning of features with a minimum line-width of 200nm.Following the development of these doping and patterning processes these were combined to fabricate controllably doped, functioning planar devices. SSDs showed true zero-threshold rectification behaviour with no observed breakdown in the reverse direction up to 100 V. IPG-FETs showed switching behaviour in response to an applied gate potential and were largely free of detectable gate leakage current, verifying the quality of the patterning process.Furthermore, high-performance semiconducting polymer PAAD was synthesised and characterised in field-effect transistors as steps towards its use in planar electronic devices. It was also shown that this material could be doped using the developed immersion doping protocol and that this protocol was compatible with top-gated device architectures and the use of fluoropolymer CYTOP as a dielectric.

Previous studies have shown that many drivers are unable to provide the right amount of steering torque when facing an imminent collision with an upcoming obstacle. In some cases, drivers under-react i.e., they provide too low steering inputs and thus collide with the obstacle in front; in other cases, drivers might apply a higher steering input than necessary, potentially resulting in the vehicle leaving the road or losing stability. The EMA function is an active safety feature which has the sole objective of providing steering torque interference when performing such a manoeuvre. The motivation for the thesis work is to overcome some limitations of the existing MA function which does not incorporate the ability to differentiate driver reactions. In this thesis, an Evasive Manoeuvre Assist (EMA) function is designed to adapt to both types of the drivers, by an optimised steering torque overlay. The existing current EMA function is always amplifying the driver steering inputs using a feed-forward controller. The focus of this thesis work is to identify and dene a proper steering sequence reference model for closed-loop feedback control design. A simple single-point preview model is designed first to calculate the reference steering angle. A few test scenarios are set-up using the IPG CarMakerTMsimulation tool. The reference model is then tuned with respect to the amplitude and frequency by batch simulations to obtain the optimal steering prole. A feedback controller is then designed using this reference model. The controller is implemented in a real-time environment, using a Volvo rapid-prototype test vehicle. Preliminary variation tests have shown that the developed controller can enhance both an over-reacting and under-reacting driver's performance during an evasive manoeuvre, by applying assistance/resistance EPAS torque timely. The designed EMA function is shown to accommodate different driver reactions and provide intuitive torque interference. As opposed to the earlier notion that the EMA function only assists the driver with an additional steering wheel torque, it was shown that the optimal steering torque overlay might be in the form of assistance or resistance.