Target-point based path following controller for a car-type vehicle using bounded controls

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel control approach for car-type vehicles to follow a target point ahead, transforming the problem into trajectory tracking with bounded controls, ensuring stability and demonstrated through simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a new control method that transforms target-point path following into trajectory tracking using a virtual vehicle model with bounded feedback laws.

Findings

Controller is globally asymptotically stable.

Simulation results confirm effectiveness.

Bounded control laws ensure stability.

Abstract

In this paper, we have studied the control problem of target-point based path following for car-type vehicles. This special path following task arises from the needs of vision based guidance systems, where a given target-point located ahead of the vehicle, in the visual range of the camera, must follow a specified path. A solution to this problem is developed through a non linear transformation of the path following problem into a reference trajectory tracking problem, by modeling the target point as a virtual vehicle. Bounded feedback laws must be then used on the real vehicle's angular acceleration and the virtual vehicle's velocity, to achieve stability. The resulting controller is globally asymptotically stable with respect and the proof is demonstrated using Lyapunov based arguments and a bootstrap argument. The effectiveness of this controller has been illustrated through simulations.