Abstract:

This contribution focuses on stability issues of controller design for lateral guidance of road vehicles along planned paths. The linear time-variant equations of motion of the bicycle model including differential braking are stated from a mechanical point of view, both with respect to a vehicle fixed reference frame as well as a path fixed reference frame. A generalized stiffnessbased control force is proposed for path following. This mechanical analogy addresses a class of possible longitudinal and torsional spring-models for control laws. Lyapunov's direct method is used to obtain statements on the choice of the spring stiffness parameters and application points. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)