Vehicle reference lane calculation for autonomous vehicle guidance control

Abstract

The presented paper discusses a concept of a model-based reference lane calculation method for autonomous vehicle guidance. Recently shown reference lane calculation methods for autonomous passenger cars without trailer attached were generally performed by a simple “mid-lane�? guidance approach, which is sufficient for these types of vehicles to keep them in track. For vehicles with more complex driving dynamics like heavy truck-semitrailer combinations or vehicles with attached trailers, however, a more sophisticated approach for reference lane calculation is necessary to achieve all requirements regarding driving safety and driving comfort for high-quality driving assistance. The presented paper therefore focuses on the task of designing a reference lane calculation method for vehicles with complex driving dynamics, which leads to a more general approach for determining the reference lane to achieve all the requirements of safe and comfortable lane-keeping tasks.