An automated parking system for a truck and trailer

This paper describes a control system which can automatically park a truck and trailer. This is a classic challenge in the field of control theory. When reversing, the truck and trailer can be modelled as a multivariable nonholonomic nonlinear system with state and input saturation. Equations (1) and (2) represent a nonlinear mathematical model of the system. The designed control system can accomplish three different tasks using fuzzy controllers. Firstly, it can drive the truck backwards and park it at a place arbitrarily distant from any starting location. Secondly, it can drive the truck forward towards the parking space and then reverse park with a minimal amount of turning. Thirdly, it can parallel park the truck. The control system was tested in a simulated environment and then applied to an actual small truck consisting of a small cube-shaped robot and an attached trailer. Fig. 1 shows the mathematical model of the truck and trailer. Figs. 2, 5 and 8 outline the control schemes for the three different parking strategies. Fig. 3 shows an example of fuzzy membership functions used by the controllers. Figs. 4 and 6 present the results of the simulation. Fig. 8 illustrates the actual physical model and Fig. 9 shows the final results.