Title: Non-linear steering control for limit handling conditions using preview path curvature

Authors: Matthijs Klomp; Klas Olsson; Carl Sandberg

Addresses: Vehicle Dynamics CAE, Volvo Car Group, Gothenburg, Sweden ' Electrics/Electronics & E-Propulsion (EEEP), Volvo Car Group, Gothenburg, Sweden ' Vehicle Dynamics CAE, Volvo Car Group, Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: Path-following steering control has many applications in autonomous driving, which may one day lead to cars running on autopilot. The developed controller addresses the path-following task by the required path curvature to reach a single preview point ahead of the vehicle as input to the controller. A pre-defined non-linear map of steering angle vs. curvature and vehicle speed is used to calculate the required steering angle. Calibration of the controller is done by performing a simple steady-state circle manoeuvre. The controller is evaluated using both simulations and experiments. Excellent path-following performance is achieved all the way up to the limit of adhesion. The actuation is smooth and the error rarely exceeds 1 m even at lateral acceleration levels of up to 10 m/s².

Keywords: path following; steering robots; steering control; vehicle dynamics; lateral control; limit handling; robot control; nonlinear control; preview path curvature; autonomous driving; vehicle speed; steering angle.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVAS.2014.063043

International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems, 2014 Vol.12 No.3, pp.266 - 283

Received: 15 Jul 2013
Accepted: 23 Mar 2014
Published online: 29 Oct 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article