Lateral control of higher order nonlinear vehicle model in emergency maneuvers using absolute positioning GPS and magnetic markers

The performance of an automatic steering system based on an absolute positioning global positioning system (GPS) and a magnetic marker reference system during emergency situations is examined in this paper, as it is a vital safety issue in highway automation. Robust control technique in the form of parameter space approach in an invariance plane is utilized for lateral controller design based on a higher order nonlinear vehicle model. In addition, the control system incorporates an exponential smoothing algorithm based on road curvature preview for vehicle-handling enhancement. The proposed estimation and control system is shown, in computer simulations, to be effective in handling vehicle emergency situations. Index Terms--Gain scheduling, invariance plane, nonlinear vehicle model, parameter space approach, robust control, steering control.