Path Tracking Control Strategy for 4WD/4WS Autonomous Vehicle with Considering Lateral Stability

According to the characteristics of single-wheel solo controllable of unmanned vehicle with distributed four-wheel drive/steering, a path tracking control strategy considering stability is proposed to improve the vehicle stability of unmanned vehicle under high-speed and low-attachment working conditions. Specifically, the path tracking controller is built by pre-targeting-following theory to achieve real-time tracking of the planned path of the unmanned vehicle; and the integrated control of the rear wheel turning angle and direct transverse moment is carried out by sliding mode control theory, and the torque distribution is realized by considering the front and rear axle loads and road adhesion coefficients to improve the body stability. The simulation results show that compared with the path tracking control strategy without considering stability, the path tracking strategy with considering stability decreases the average lateral tracking error by 5.2%, the peak mass lateral declination by 57.4% and the peak transverse pendulum velocity by 23% in the high-speed double shift line condition; in the low attachment mountain road condition, the average lateral tracking error decreases by 9.1%, the peak mass lateral declination by 54.3% and the peak transverse pendulum velocity by 1.4%. On the premise of ensuring the vehicle path tracking accuracy, the driving stability of the vehicle is improved. © 2024 Editorial Department of Scientia Agricultura Sinica. All rights reserved.