A Skid-Steering Method for Path-Following Control of Distributed-Drive Articulated Heavy Vehicles

Distributed-drive articulated heavy vehicles (DAHVs) have separate front and rear sections and require a complex hydraulic steering system to achieve the steering process, which poses considerable challenges in obtaining better steering characteristics and achieving path-following control. In this paper, the distributed-drive characteristic of DAHVs is used to develop a novel skid-steering method (SSM) in which the hydraulic steering method (HSM) is replaced with a system that differentially controls the driving wheels to improve vehicle steering performance and path following control accuracy. Three main contributions are made: 1) The novel SSM with direct yaw moment that is used to be the sole power source during steering process of DAHVs is designed to replace the conventional HSM. 2) The idea of SSM by yaw rate control of one vehicle section to achieve the steering process for DAHVs is proposed firstly, which can solve the complex problem of requiring multiple control parameters due to the separate vehicle sections of DAHVs. 3) A layered control method is implemented to improve the robustness of the control system, which is composed of an upper path following controller and a lower skid steering controller combined with a double sliding mode control technique. The system's stability and robustness are proven by the Lyapunov approach. A co-simulation model verified by field tests is used to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method. The results of this study provide a new way to improve the intelligence of DAHVs.