Development of a Unified Lane-Keeping and Collision Avoidance System for Semi-Trailer Truck

Abstract

In this article, a unified lane-keeping and forward collision avoidance system is proposed for semi-trailer trucks. Kinematic and dynamic models are described for lateral motion of the semi-trailer truck. The variation of the cornering stiffness is considered because its value depends on driving conditions such as vehicle speed and vertical load. The proposed system consists of the hitch angle estimation algorithm of the semi-trailer truck and the Model Predictive Controller (MPC) for the lateral motion of the semi-trailer truck. In the hitch angle estimation, the disturbance observer is utilized to compensate the lateral uncertainties and the estimation performance is validated in simulations and experiments. In the controller design, an MPC controller is designed both for lane keeping and collision avoidance, but their constraints in lateral motion are considered separately. In constructing the objective functions, constraint smoothing is applied to improve the feasibility of the semi-trailer truck motion. A simplification method is also introduced to reduce the computational complexity of the MPC and to improve the real-time performance. The proposed system is evaluated in simulations for lane keeping and collision avoidance, respectively.