Lateral position control for a tractor-trailer system using coordinate transformation and hybrid controllers

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present trailer lateral position control for a tractor-trailer system using a kinematic model with control delay. A coordinate transformation strategy is proposed to reduce the tracking error at the intersections of reference paths that have different curvatures. State feedback approach is used as the primary controller. To move the trailer towards the desired path when the lateral position error is large, another control law based on tractor heading angle and yaw rate is used instead. Simulation results show that the proposed hybrid control system is able to stably track lines and curves even for very large initial errors.