Path tracking of autonomous vehicle based on adaptive model predictive control

In most cases, a vehicle works in a complex environment, with working conditions changing frequently. For most model predictive tracking controllers, however, the impacts of some important working conditions, such as speed and road conditions, are not concerned. In this regard, an adaptive model predictive controller is proposed, which improves tracking accuracy and stability compared with general model predictive controllers. First, the proposed controller utilizes the recursive least square algorithm to estimate tire cornering stiffness and road friction coefficient online. Then, the estimated tire cornering stiffness is used to update vehicle dynamics model and the estimated road friction coefficient is used to update the road adhesion constraint. Moreover, the control parameters consist of prediction horizon, control horizon, and sampling time, all of which are set according to vehicle speed. A co-simulation based on MATLAB/Simulink and CarSim is conducted. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed controller has a great adaptive ability to changing working conditions, especially to speed and road conditions.