Robust Set-Invariance Based Fuzzy Output Tracking Control for Vehicle Autonomous Driving Under Uncertain Lateral Forces and Steering Constraints

Tran Anh-Tu Nguyen (1) , Jagat Jyoti Rath (2) , Thierry-Marie Guerra (1) , Reinaldo Martinez Palhares (3) , Hui Zhang (4)

1 LAMIH - Laboratoire d'Automatique, de Mécanique et d'Informatique industrielles et Humaines - UMR 8201
2 TUM - Technische Universität Munchen - Technical University Munich - Université Technique de Munich
3 UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
4 BUAA - Beihang University

This paper is concerned with a new control method for path tracking of autonomous ground vehicles. We exploit the fuzzy model-based control framework to deal with the time-varying feature of the vehicle speed and the highly uncertain behaviors of the tire-road forces involved in the nonlinear vehicle dynamics. To avoid using costly vehicle sensors for feedback control while favoring the simplest control structure for real-time implementation, a new fuzzy static output feedback (SOF) scheme is proposed. In particular, though the robust set-invariance property and Lyapunov-based arguments, the physical constraints on the steering input saturation and the vehicle state can be taken into account in the control design to improve the driving safety and comfort. The theoretical development relies on the use of fuzzy Lyapunov functions and the non-parallel distributed compensation control concept to reduce the design conservatism. Exploiting some specific convexification techniques, the control design is reformulated as an optimization problem under linear matrix inequalities with a single line search, which are efficiently solved via semidefinite programming techniques. The proposed fuzzy path tracking controller is evaluated through various dynamic driving tests conducted with high-fidelity CarSim/Matlab co-simulations. Moreover, to emphasize the advantages of the new fuzzy SOF controller, a performance comparison with the CarSim driver model is also performed.

Mots clés: "Vehicle dynamics"; "Robustness"; "Autonomous vehicles"; "Control design"; "Feedback control"; "Real-time systems"; "Output feedback"

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Tran Anh-Tu Nguyen, Jagat Jyoti Rath, Thierry-Marie Guerra, Reinaldo Martinez Palhares, Hui Zhang. Robust Set-Invariance Based Fuzzy Output Tracking Control for Vehicle Autonomous Driving Under Uncertain Lateral Forces and Steering Constraints. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2020, 22 (9), pp.5849-5860. ⟨10.1109/TITS.2020.3021292⟩. ⟨hal-03424551⟩