Path planning and tracking control for parallel parking based on clothoid curve

This paper presents a clothoidal curve-based parallel parking path planning and tracking control method by taking into account the kinematic constraint of the vehicle and the requirements of obstacle avoidance and real time. Firstly, the boundaries of the feasible starting region for parallel parking are deduced based on the combination of circle arc and straight line. secondly, the collision-free parallel parking path with continuous curvature is designed by the rotation transformation and flip transformation of the fixed clothoid curve to avoid the vehicle pivot steering. Thirdly, to execute the generated path, a non-time reference path tracking sliding control strategy is proposed based on the non-singular fast terminal sliding mode theory and the double power reaching law to improve the dynamic response and robustness of the closed-loop system. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed parallel parking path planning and control method is verified by simulation with vehicle dynamics simulation software. © 2020, Jilin University Press. All right reserved.