Title: Distributed drive 4WS intelligent driving vehicle trajectory tracking and lateral stability control

Authors: Wei Gao; Yangyang Zhou; Zhaowen Deng; Minxiang Wei

Addresses: Hubei Key Laboratory of Automotive Power Transmission and Electronic Control, College of Automotive Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, China; College of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China ' Hubei Key Laboratory of Automotive Power Transmission and Electronic Control, College of Automotive Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, China ' School of Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, China; College of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China ' Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

Abstract: To improve the accuracy of trajectory tracking and lateral stability of autonomous vehicles in intelligent driving, a distributed drive four-wheel steering (4WS) trajectory tracking and lateral stability control algorithm with a hierarchical architecture is proposed. Firstly, an upper-level 4WS trajectory tracking controller with feed-forward control is designed based on a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) to determine the front and rear wheel steering angles. A PID-based longitudinal driver model is designed to output the required total driving force for vehicle speed tracking. Secondly, a lower-level linear time-varying model predictive control (LTVMPC) direct yaw moment controller is developed based on a two-degree-of-freedom single-track vehicle model. The optimal additional yaw moment is computed by iteratively solving a constrained optimisation problem, and it is distributed using the axle load ratio method. Finally, a co-simulation platform based on CarSim and MATLAB/Simulink is employed to simulate and analyse the controller's performance. The results show that the 4WS+LQR+LTVMPC strategy effectively reduces the lateral offset, heading angle offset, and sideslip angle while improving the trajectory tracking accuracy and lateral stability of the vehicle.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles; four-wheel steering; 4WS; trajectory tracking; linear time-varying model predictive control; LTVMPC; co-simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVP.2025.147705

International Journal of Vehicle Performance, 2025 Vol.11 No.3, pp.321 - 347

Received: 31 Jul 2024
Accepted: 20 Mar 2025
Published online: 25 Jul 2025 *

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