Dynamic modeling and control of high-speed automated vehicles for lane change maneuver

Lane change maneuver of high-speed automated vehicles is complicated, since it involves highly nonlinear vehicle dynamics, which is critical for the driving safety and handling stability. Addressing this challenge, we present the dynamic modeling and control of high-speed automated vehicles for lane change maneuver. A nonlinear single-track vehicle dynamics model and a multisegment lane change process model are employed. Variable time steps are utilized for the vehicle model discretization to ensure a long enough prediction horizon, while maintaining model fidelity and computational feasibility. Accordingly, the control of lane change maneuver is addressed in two successive stages. First, by considering the lane change maneuver as primarily a longitudinal control problem, velocity profiles are determined to ensure the longitudinal safety of this maneuver. Then, the associated lateral control is generated with a model-predictive controller, taking the handling stability envelope, coupled tire forces, and environmental constraints into account. Simulations demonstrate the real-time ability and stable-handling capability of the proposed approach.