Predictive Braking on a Nonplanar Road

TL;DR

This paper introduces a predictive braking system for four-wheeled vehicles that accounts for road geometry and friction, enhancing safety on nonplanar roads through a methodology applicable to both human-driven and autonomous vehicles.

Contribution

A novel methodology for considering friction and road contact safety on smooth nonplanar roads, enabling preemptive speed reduction in complex road geometries.

Findings

Mitigates loss of control on nonplanar roads

Effective in simulated ADAS scenarios

Applicable to both human-driven and autonomous vehicles

Abstract

We present an approach for predictive braking of a four-wheeled vehicle on a nonplanar road. Our main contribution is a methodology to consider friction and road contact safety on general smooth road geometry. We use this to develop an active safety system to preemptively reduce vehicle speed for upcoming road geometry, such as off-camber turns. Our system may be used for human-driven or autonomous vehicles and we demonstrate it with a simulated ADAS scenario. We show that loss of control due to driver error on nonplanar roads can be mitigated by our approach.