A study on lateral control method for the path tracking of intelligent vehicles

A lateral control system for the path tracking of intelligent vehicles is proposed. The control system consists of a desired heading error generator based on vehicle-road kinematic relation and a feedback control system using robust PID controller based on vehicle-road dynamics model. Based on the analysis on system characteristics, a robust fixed gain PID controller and prefilter with optimum ITAE performance indicator are designed for a base speed. And after the analysis on the effects of longitudinal speed on feedback system, the applicable speed range for the parameters of fixed gain PID is given. The effects of PID parameters on closed-loop feedback system are analyzed and the PID parameters for other speed range are adjusted. The results of validation test on real vehicle show that the lateral control system proposed has good performance in path tracking.