Experimental results in robust lateral control of highway vehicles

Vehicle lateral dynamics are affected by vehicle mass, longitudinal velocity, vehicle inertia, and the cornering stiffness of the tires. All of these parameters are subject to variation, even over the course of a single trip. Therefore, a practical lateral control system must guarantee stability, and hopefully ride comfort, over a wide range of parameter changes. This article describes a robust controller that theoretically guarantees stability over a wide range of parameter changes. The performance of the robust controller is then evaluated in simulation as well as on a test vehicle. Test results for experiments conducted on an instrumented track are presented, comparing the robust controller to a PID controller that was tuned on the vehicle.