An Analysis of the Vehicle Dynamics Behind Pure Pursuit and Stanley Controllers

As automated driving becomes more common, simulation of vehicle dynamics and control scenarios are increasingly important for investigating motion control approaches. In this work, a study of the differences between the Pure Pursuit and Stanley autonomous vehicle controllers, based on vehicle dynamics responses, is presented. Both are geometric controllers that use only immediate vehicle states, along with waypoint data, to control a vehicle’s future direction as it proceeds from point to point, and both are among the most popular lateral controllers in use today. The MATLAB Automated Driving Toolbox is employed to implement and virtually test the Pure Pursuit and Stanley lateral controllers in different driving scenarios. These include low intensity scenarios such as city driving, and emergency maneuvers such as the moose test. The situations where one controller is better than the other are analyzed and identified, with a focus on vehicle dynamics responses in terms of accuracy, comfort, and performance. Unlike previous works of similar nature, this work considers the “jerk” vector to describe the passenger experience inside the vehicle.