Path tracking control for autonomous vehicles using hybrid fault-tolerant approach

Authors:
raw_author_name: Ruinan Chen
raw_affiliation_string: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Research Center for New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
raw_author_name: Jie Hu
raw_affiliation_string: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Research Center for New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
raw_author_name: Minchao Zhang
raw_affiliation_string: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Research Center for New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
raw_author_name: Linglei Zhu
raw_affiliation_string: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Research Center for New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
raw_author_name: Xinkai Zhong
raw_affiliation_string: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Research Center for New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China

Abstract: Signal delay, execution deviation and reference model mismatch are common faults in autonomous vehicles, resulting in reduced path tracking control performance. To improve the path tracking performance of autonomous vehicles under fault conditions, this paper proposes a hybrid fault-tolerant (HFT) path tracking control approach, in which passive fault-tolerant path tracking control and fault observer-based hybrid active fault-tolerant path tracking control are introduced. The probable usual errors in path tracking are first examined and analyzed, together with the vehicle kinematic model and a typical autonomous driving system. Then, a slide-mode-based passive fault-tolerant path tracking controller is designed and integrated with a fault observer to create a hybrid active fault-tolerant controller. Finally, simulations and experiments are conducted, and the results demonstrate that our proposal is effective. After convergence of the fault observations, the lateral tracking error is less than 0.2m and the root mean square of the tracking error is 44% smaller than the LQR approach.