Lateral Trajectory Stabilization of an Articulated Truck during Reverse Driving Maneuvers

The stabilization of articulated truck i.e. trucksemitrailer is a complex problem due to the instable dynamics. In this paper, a lateral trajectory stabilization algorithm for reverse driving of truck-semitrailer is proposed. A cascade control is presented for lateral trajectory stabilization of trucksemitrailer. A high-level path tracking algorithm handles the path tracking of a virtual vehicle which is an equivalent model for the semitrailer. A low-level Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) stabilizes the hitch angle. The path tracking problem is formulated as a linear time-varying differential dynamic programming problem subjective to virtual vehicle dynamics in a receding horizon fashion. The virtual vehicle dynamics are defined by the single track kinematic vehicle model and the hitch angle dynamics is used for formulating the Linear Quadratic Regulator problem. The approach is demonstrated with replays of real-world path tracking scenarios on a fullscale truck-semitrailer prototype.