A study on integrated control of trajectory tracking and lateral stability for distributed drive autonomous vehicle

Abstract

In this paper, an integrated control strategy integrating trajectory tracking and lateral stability is proposed for a distributed drive autonomous vehicle (DDAV). First, a model prediction controller is established based on a 3 degree-of-freedom (DOF) vehicle dynamics model and a path following model, and the optimal front wheel steering angle and external yaw moment are simultaneously obtained. Then the torque distribution controller optimises the distribution of longitudinal forces at each wheel with the tyre load rate minimisation as the objective function, and applies the interior point method to solve the optimal torque distribution problem. Finally, simulation experiments are carried out based on the Carsim-Simulink joint simulation platform. The results show that the proposed integrated control strategy can effectively control the lateral error and heading error in vehicle trajectory tracking, and ensure reliable lateral stability of the vehicle at the same time.