Computationally Simple Nonlinear MPC Algorithm for Vehicle Obstacle Avoidance with Minimization of Fuel Utilization

Abstract

This work is concerned with Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm for vehicle obstacle avoidance. The second objective of the algorithm is on-line minimization of fuel utilization. At first, the rudimentary nonlinear MPC optimization problem is formulated. Next, the constraints related to the predicted process state variables are formulated as soft ones to guarantee computational safety. Furthermore, in order to obtain a computationally simple procedure, the process dynamics and the fuel utilization model are linearized on-line and used for prediction in MPC. It leads to a quadratic programming MPC task, the necessity of nonlinear optimization performed in real-time is eliminated. In order to stress advantages of the discussed computationally uncomplicated MPC method it is compared with the basic scheme with on-line nonlinear optimization in terms of control quality and computational time. Additionally, effectiveness of the MPC algorithm is discussed in presence of modeling errors and measurement noise. Finally, additional constraints imposed on the rate of change of the manipulated variables are considered.