On the steering of automated vehicles—A velocity-adaptive controller

A velocity-adaptive lateral controller is designed to meet requirements pertaining to lateral-position tracking accuracy, ride comfort, and an insensitivity to both changes in critical vehicle parameters and disturbance forces. This controller was tested under full-scale conditions wherein a wire-follower configuration and a dual-mode test vehicle were employed. The latter was automatically steered on straight sections of roadway at speeds up to 35.8 m/s, lane-changing maneuvers were performed up to this speed, and small-radius (100 m) curves were traversed at speeds up to 17.9 m/s. Excellent lateral control, close tracking, good insensitivity to disturbance forces, and a comfortable ride resulted; thus, a relatively simple controller can be effectively employed for nonemergency situations.