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This thesis deals with simulation vehicle models for lateral control. It surveys step by step to models of tire, truck and control. At the end are showed influences of model parameters to vehicles dynamics.

This thesis describes the design of an inexpensive autonomous vehicle system using a small scaled model vehicle. The system is capable of operating in two different modes: telerobotic manual mode and automated driving mode. In telerobotic manual mode, the model vehicle is controlled by a human driver at a stationary remote control station with full-scale steering wheel and gas pedal. The vehicle can either be an unmodified toy remote-control car or a vehicle equipped with wireless radio modem for communication and microcontroller for speed control. In both cases the vehicle also carries a video camera capable of transmitting video images back to the remote control station where they are displayed on a monitor. In automated driving mode, the vehicle's lateral movement is controlled by a lateral control algorithm. The objective of this algorithm is to keep the vehicle in the center of a road. Position and orientation of the vehicle are determined by an image processing algorithm identifying a white middle marker on the road. Two different algorithm for image processing have been designed: one based on the pixel intensity profile and the other on vanishing points in the image plane. For the control algorithm itself, two designs are introduced as well: a simple classical P-control and a control scheme based on H-Infinity. The design and testing of this autonomous vehicle system are performed in the Flexible Low-cost Automated Scaled Highway (FLASH) laboratory at Virginia Tech. / Master of Science

This thesis deals with a new robust control design for autonomous vehicles. The goal is to perform lane keeping under various constraints, mainly actuator saturation of the steering system, lateral wind force, incident obstacles and unknown curvatures. To reach this goal, we propose an improved formulation of Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) law since it is a nonlinear system feedback state controller. A direct Lyapunov method to ensure the stability and the stabilization of the discrete-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) model representing the autonomous vehicle dynamics is suggested. We derived necessary and sufficient stability and stabilization conditions from the quadratic Lyapunov function. These conditions are expressed in terms of strict Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) extracted from the linearization of the Bilinear Matrix Inequalities (BMIs). The vector state is measured entirely by the Luenberger multi-observers to be used in the feedback control. The results of Autonomous vehicle control are presented in this thesis to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Simulations are used to validate the theoretical results.

This thesis describes the current state of development of the Flexible Low-cost Automated Scaled Highway (FLASH) laboratory at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). The FLASH lab and the scale model cars contained therein provide a testbed for the small scale development stage of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). In addition, the FLASH lab serves as a home to the prototype display being developed for an educational museum exhibit. This thesis also gives details of the path following lateral controller implemented on the FLASH car. The controller was developed using the kinematic model for a wheeled robot. The global model is converted into the path coordinate model so that only local variables are needed. then the path coordinate model is converted into chained form and a controller is given to perform path following. The path coordinate model introduces a new parameter to the system: the curvature of the path. Thus, it is necessary to provide the path's curvature value to the controller. Because of the environment in which the car is operating, the curvature values are known a priori. Several online methods for determining the curvature are developed. A MATLAB simulation environment was created with which to test the above algorithms. The simulation uses the kinematic model to show the car's behavior and implements the sensors and controller as closely as possible to the actual system. The implementation of the lateral controller in hardware is discussed. The vehicle platform is described and the harware and software architecture detailed. The car described is capable of operating manually and autonomously. In autonomous mode, several sensors are utilized including: infrared, magnetic, ultrasound, and image based technology. The operation of each sensor type is described and the information received by the processor from each is discussed. / Master of Science

Path following and lateral stability are crucial issues for autonomous vehicles. Moreover, these problems increase in complexity when handling heavy-duty vehicles due to their poor manoeuvrability, large sizes and mass variation. In addition, uncertainties on mass may have the potential to significantly decrease the performance of the system, even to the point of destabilising it. These parametric variations must be taken into account during the design of the controller. However, robust control techniques usually require offline adjustment of auxiliary tuning parameters, which is not practical and leads to sub-optimal operation. Hence, this work presents an approach to path-following and lateral control for autonomous heavy-duty vehicles subject to parametric uncertainties by using a robust recursive regulator. The main advantage of the proposed controller is that it does not depend on the offline adjustment of tuning parameters. Parametric uncertainties were assumed to be on the payload, and an H∞ controller was used for performance comparison in simulations. The performance of both controllers is evaluated in a double lane-change manoeuvre. Simulation results showed that the proposed method had better performance in terms of robustness, lateral stability, driving smoothness and safety, which demonstrates that it is a very promising control technique for practical applications. Ultimately, experiment tests in a rigid heavy-duty truck validate what was found in simulation results. / O seguimento de caminho e a estabilidade lateral são questões cruciais para veículos autônomos. Além disso, devido à baixa capacidade de manobra, tamanho e grande variação de massa, estes problemas se tornam mais complexos quando se trata de veículos pesados. Adicionalmente, as incertezas na massa têm o potencial de diminuir significativamente o desempenho do sistema, chegando ao ponto de desestabilizá-lo, assim, essas variações paramétricas devem ser consideradas durante o projeto do controlador. No entanto, as técnicas de controle robusto geralmente exigem o ajuste off-line de parâmetros auxiliares do controlador, o que não é prático e lava a uma operação sub-ótima. Assim, este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem de controle de seguimento de caminho e controle lateral para veículos pesados autônomos sujeitos a incertezas paramétricas usando um regulador robusto recursivo. A principal vantagem deste controlador é que ele não depende do ajuste off-line de parâmetros. Assumiu-se que as incertezas paramétricas estavam na carga do veículo, e um controlador H∞ foi usado para comparar o desempenho em simulação. O desempenho de ambos os controladores é avaliado em uma manobra de mudança de faixa. Os resultados de simulação mostraram que o método proposto apresentou melhor desempenho em termos de robustez, estabilidade lateral, suavidade na condução e segurança, o que o demonstra como uma técnica de controle bastante promissora para aplicações práticas. Por fim, testes experimentais em um caminhão rígido reforçam os resultados obtidos em simulação.

Este projeto apresenta o desenvolvimento de um controle longitudinal e lateral para um veículo terrestre de categoria pesada, usando o conceito de geração de curvas de Clothoids. O controle é em malha fechada, com realimentação de velocidade e posição global (X,Y) do veículo no plano bi-dimensional. Dentro de uma arquitetura de controle autônomo para um veículo, o controle longitudinal ajusta a velocidade de cruzeiro em função da trajetória e o lateral é responsável por regular a direção do volante e a sua correspondência para com os pneus, que por sua vez direcionam o veículo dentro da trajetória dada. Para este controle, para o modelo do veículo foi apenas considerado a estrutura do cavalo mecânico (conjunto monolítico formado pela cabine, motor e rodas de tração do caminhão), desprezando qualquer carga traseira engatado nele. Primeiramente será apresentada uma breve introdução abordando a história e projetos atuas de veículos autônomos, em seguida é feito uma revisão dos conceitos básicos usados no projeto. No capitulo seguinte é abordado o modelo matemático do veículo (cinemática e dinâmica) e logo em seguida teremos a secção que aborda sobre a estrutura de controle proposta. A seguir será apresentado a seção de discussão sobre a implementação e resultados práticos. Finalmente é apresentado a conclusão e uma breve descrição sobre trabalhos futuros. / This project presents the development of a longitudinal and lateral control for a Heavy Category Ground Vehicles, using the concept of generation of curves Clothoids. This control is closed loop with feedback speed and position (X,Y) ofvehicle in two-dimensional plane. Within an autonomous control architecture for a vehicle, the longitudinal control adjusts cruising speed on the path and the lateral control is responsible for regulating direction of steering wheel and its correspondence to the tires, which in turn drive the vehicle within the given path. For this control, the vehicle model we are only considering the horse (monolithic assembly formed by the cab, engine and truck drive wheels), disregarding any rear cargo engaged in it. First a brief introduction will be presented addressing the history and projects of autonomous vehicles, then it is made a review of the basic concepts used in the project. The next chapter is discussed the mathematical model of the vehicle (kinematics and dynamics) and soon we will have a section dealing on the proposed control structure.The following will show the discussion section on the implementation and practical results, then the conclusion and a brief description of future work.

Path following and lateral stability are crucial issues for autonomous vehicles. Moreover, these problems increase in complexity when handling heavy-duty vehicles due to their poor manoeuvrability, large sizes and mass variation. In addition, uncertainties on mass may have the potential to significantly decrease the performance of the system, even to the point of destabilising it. These parametric variations must be taken into account during the design of the controller. However, robust control techniques usually require offline adjustment of auxiliary tuning parameters, which is not practical and leads to sub-optimal operation. Hence, this work presents an approach to path-following and lateral control for autonomous heavy-duty vehicles subject to parametric uncertainties by using a robust recursive regulator. The main advantage of the proposed controller is that it does not depend on the offline adjustment of tuning parameters. Parametric uncertainties were assumed to be on the payload, and an H∞ controller was used for performance comparison in simulations. The performance of both controllers is evaluated in a double lane-change manoeuvre. Simulation results showed that the proposed method had better performance in terms of robustness, lateral stability, driving smoothness and safety, which demonstrates that it is a very promising control technique for practical applications. Ultimately, experiment tests in a rigid heavy-duty truck validate what was found in simulation results. / O seguimento de caminho e a estabilidade lateral são questões cruciais para veículos autônomos. Além disso, devido à baixa capacidade de manobra, tamanho e grande variação de massa, estes problemas se tornam mais complexos quando se trata de veículos pesados. Adicionalmente, as incertezas na massa têm o potencial de diminuir significativamente o desempenho do sistema, chegando ao ponto de desestabilizá-lo, assim, essas variações paramétricas devem ser consideradas durante o projeto do controlador. No entanto, as técnicas de controle robusto geralmente exigem o ajuste off-line de parâmetros auxiliares do controlador, o que não é prático e lava a uma operação sub-ótima. Assim, este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem de controle de seguimento de caminho e controle lateral para veículos pesados autônomos sujeitos a incertezas paramétricas usando um regulador robusto recursivo. A principal vantagem deste controlador é que ele não depende do ajuste off-line de parâmetros. Assumiu-se que as incertezas paramétricas estavam na carga do veículo, e um controlador H∞ foi usado para comparar o desempenho em simulação. O desempenho de ambos os controladores é avaliado em uma manobra de mudança de faixa. Os resultados de simulação mostraram que o método proposto apresentou melhor desempenho em termos de robustez, estabilidade lateral, suavidade na condução e segurança, o que o demonstra como uma técnica de controle bastante promissora para aplicações práticas. Por fim, testes experimentais em um caminhão rígido reforçam os resultados obtidos em simulação.

Este projeto apresenta o desenvolvimento de um controle longitudinal e lateral para um veículo terrestre de categoria pesada, usando o conceito de geração de curvas de Clothoids. O controle é em malha fechada, com realimentação de velocidade e posição global (X,Y) do veículo no plano bi-dimensional. Dentro de uma arquitetura de controle autônomo para um veículo, o controle longitudinal ajusta a velocidade de cruzeiro em função da trajetória e o lateral é responsável por regular a direção do volante e a sua correspondência para com os pneus, que por sua vez direcionam o veículo dentro da trajetória dada. Para este controle, para o modelo do veículo foi apenas considerado a estrutura do cavalo mecânico (conjunto monolítico formado pela cabine, motor e rodas de tração do caminhão), desprezando qualquer carga traseira engatado nele. Primeiramente será apresentada uma breve introdução abordando a história e projetos atuas de veículos autônomos, em seguida é feito uma revisão dos conceitos básicos usados no projeto. No capitulo seguinte é abordado o modelo matemático do veículo (cinemática e dinâmica) e logo em seguida teremos a secção que aborda sobre a estrutura de controle proposta. A seguir será apresentado a seção de discussão sobre a implementação e resultados práticos. Finalmente é apresentado a conclusão e uma breve descrição sobre trabalhos futuros. / This project presents the development of a longitudinal and lateral control for a Heavy Category Ground Vehicles, using the concept of generation of curves Clothoids. This control is closed loop with feedback speed and position (X,Y) ofvehicle in two-dimensional plane. Within an autonomous control architecture for a vehicle, the longitudinal control adjusts cruising speed on the path and the lateral control is responsible for regulating direction of steering wheel and its correspondence to the tires, which in turn drive the vehicle within the given path. For this control, the vehicle model we are only considering the horse (monolithic assembly formed by the cab, engine and truck drive wheels), disregarding any rear cargo engaged in it. First a brief introduction will be presented addressing the history and projects of autonomous vehicles, then it is made a review of the basic concepts used in the project. The next chapter is discussed the mathematical model of the vehicle (kinematics and dynamics) and soon we will have a section dealing on the proposed control structure.The following will show the discussion section on the implementation and practical results, then the conclusion and a brief description of future work.

An optimal-control based path planning algorithm has been developed recently for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) driving on a lane-free highway, including vehicle nudging. That vehicle movement strategy considers, in the lateral direction, a lateral desired speed that had been set to zero in previous works; in other words, vehicles avoid lateral movement if this is not helpful in achieving some of their goals, e.g. achieving a longitudinal desired speed by overtaking slower vehicles. In this work, a lateral positioning strategy for the vehicles is proposed, aiming to improve the vehicles’ longitudinal speeds and the traffic flow, mainly at intermediate densities, by distributing laterally the vehicles based on their longitudinal desired speeds. The intention is to leverage the existing optimal control formulation to move the CAVs to appropriate lateral positions, while respecting other, higher-priority sub-objectives, such as avoiding crashes. First, the longitudinal desired speed of each vehicle is mapped to a lateral desired position under the premise “faster vehicles drive farther left”. Then, the value of the desired lateral speed is updated in real-time in dependence on the vehicle’s current versus the desired lateral position, letting the optimal control problem, with the given sub-objective priorities, decide on the actual vehicle path. The proposed strategy is demonstrated via traffic simulations, involving various traffic densities, on a ring-road. Several quantities, such as the reached average flows and statistical measures of the error in the lateral position are computed for evaluation and comparison purposes.