Most existing Path-Following Algorithms (PFAs) are developed for single-unit vehicles (SUVs) and rarely for articulated vehicles (AVs). Since these PFAs ignore the motion of the trailer, they may cause large tracking deviations and ride stability issues when cornering. To this end, an Adaptive Articulation Angle Preview-based Path-Following Algorithm (AAAP-PFA) is proposed for AVs. Different from previous PFAs, in this model, a simple linear vehicle dynamics model is used as the prediction model, and an offset distance calculated by an articulation angle is used as part of the preview distance. An adaptive posture control strategy is designed to trade off the trajectory tracking performance and lateral stability performance during the path-following process. Considering a large prediction mismatch caused by using a linear vehicle dynamics model, a feedback correction method is proposed to improve the robustness of the steering control. In the comparison simulation experiment with SUV-PFA, it is confirmed that the novel PFA has better adaptability to the contradictory relationship between tracking performance and lateral stability and has strong steering control robustness.

For distributed drive autonomous vehicles, adding lateral stability control (LSC) to the trajectory tracking control (TTC) can optimize the distribution of the driving torque of each wheel, so that the vehicle can track the planned trajectory while maintaining stable lateral motion. However, the influence of adding LSC on the TTC system is still unclear. Firstly, a stability-track hierarchical control structure composed of LSC and TTC was established, and the interaction between the two layers was identified as the key of this paper. Then, the Intrinsic Mechanistic framework of the stability-tracking control (STC) was proposed by establishing and analyzing the vehicle dynamic model and control process of two layers. Finally, through simulation experiments, it was found that the change in the curvature of the target trajectory will make the tracking target trajectory and maintaining the lateral stability of the vehicle appear to conflict; in addition, in the LSC layer, the steering characteristics and delay characteristics of different reference models have a greater impact on the lateral stability and trajectory tracking performance; moreover, adjusting the preview time has a more obvious effect on trajectory tracking and lateral stability than the stability correction intensity coefficient.

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