Parameter-Space Based Robust Gain-Scheduling Design of Automated Vehicle Lateral Control

This paper presents a robust gain-scheduling controller design based on the parameter-space approach. The gain-scheduling control is of interest for systems with varying dynamics at different operating conditions. Requirements of robustness of stability and performance are also necessary if the system is subject to other parametric or model uncertainties. The parameter space approach is capable of projecting these requirements to the space of design parameters and facilitate the design of robust gain-scheduling control. This method is applied to automated vehicle lateral control to ensure its tracking accuracy and stability subject to uncertainties in vehicle load, speed and tire saturation. The proportional feedback gain and look-ahead distance are scheduled with respect to speed while sustaining robust stability, mixed sensitivity bound constraint and satisfaction of performance indices. Realistic hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation with a validated vehicle model and road tests are conducted to demonstrate the robust performance of the designed gain-scheduling control in the presence of model uncertainty and disturbances. Another general robust gain-scheduling approach, the linear-matrix-inequality- (LMI-) design is also conducted for benchmarking purposes and the comparisons are discussed.