A novel speed and position dependent Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA) control strategy for heavy vehicles is proposed. This LKA system can be implemented with any torque overlay system capable of accepting external position or torque commands.
The proposed algorithm tackles the problem of lane keeping in two ways from a heavy vehicle's perspective. First, it stabilizes the vehicle's lateral position by bringing it to the center of the lane and giving it the correct heading to stay there. This is done using a speed and position dependent control strategy that becomes less aggressive as the vehicle's speed increases and as it gets closer to the center of the lane. Such speed and position dependency is especially critical in heavy vehicles where unnecessary aggressive control can lead to oscillations about the lane's centerline when cruising at high speeds.
Furthermore, the proposed controller allows the vehicle to negotiate the road's curvature efficiently while tracking the lane's centerline. This is achieved using a feed-forward strategy based on the angle of attack needed to negotiate a road of a particular curvature at a particular speed.
Ultimately, the new LKA system was implemented into a torque overlay system [1, 2], and tested on a heavy vehicle. As a result, significant improvement in lane center tracking was noted, as well as in negotiating road curvature. These capabilities are expected to make driving heavy vehicles such as tractor-trailers and motor homes less strenuous, and have the potential to be the basis for autonomous heavy vehicle applications.
