AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE FOLLOWING-PERFORMANCE COMPARISON AND PROPOSITION OF A QUASI-LINEAR CONTROLLER

Abstract

This paper studies longitudinal vehicle following problem, where two control strategies i.e. LQR optimal synthesis and a novel quasi-linear controller are adopted for a linearized vehicle model. In case of LQR, the results are enhanced by inclusion of a minimum order state observer and a feed-forward controller. Since the dynamics of the feedback linearized system correspond to a certain class of linear systems, i.e. a system having more than one pole in excess to zeros, a simpler order quasi-linear feedback controller is applied. The designed controller guarantees asymptotic tracking of the desired trajectories under the constraints of physical limitations inherent in the system. A comparative simulation study of the two approaches reveals the system’s performance under various conditions.