A robust bounded control for an autonomous vehicle subject to combined wheel slip constraint

Abstract

This paper presents a robust bounded control that prevents wheel skidding for an autonomous 4WS4WD vehicle under uncertain tire/road conditions with aerodynamic drag. Constraints on combined wheel slip are incorporated, a priori, in design to prevent skidding. A robust low-and-high gain technique is used to suppress the tracking error, and to enhance the utilization of the limited wheel slip. Simulation shows that, under uncertain tire/road conditions, with aerodynamic drag, the proposed control scheme can effectively limit the combined wheel slip, and it achieves the goal of path tracking. Moreover, the control inputs of wheel torque and wheel steering are coordinated well during vehicle cornering.