Path tracking of unmanned agricultural tractors based on a novel adaptive second-order sliding mode control

Unmanned tractors are widely adopted in agricultural operations as autonomous driving technol-ogy progresses. The current path tracking control methods are limited by the unstructured farmland, the accuracy and anti-interference ability needed to be improved. This paper presents a novel adaptive second-order sliding mode (ASOSM) control method to tackle the aforementioned problems in practi-cal implementation. First, we introduce a preview lateral offset model based on the preview kinematic and tractor dynamic model, which helps solve the under-actuated problem in path tracking. Then, the ASOSM controller is designed using the revamped adding a power integrator (API) and adaptive mech-anism, which ensures that the sliding variable is converged to zero within the finite time. Meanwhile, the chattering problem in traditional sliding mode control is relieved. Finally, a high-fidelity and full -car model is established under Simulink/Carsim environment, and comparative simulations conrm the superiority of the designed control method.(c) 2023 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.