Efficiency analysis of Stanley’s controller applied to the autonomous ground vehicle movement control under effect of various perturbations

Abstract

It is assumed that autonomous ground vehicles are going to be the key factor that will cause positive changes in the transport system: from the more efficient road freights transportation and decreased emissions to the zero fatalities in road transport. From the technology and development point of view, autonomous ground vehicles are a multidisciplinary research object which includes such research fields as vehicle dynamics, control engineering and computer sciences. The control system is the main system that is responsible for the stable, accurate and safe movement of the autonomous ground vehicle under various and changing movement conditions. Thus, the analysis of various controllers is a relevant task, which allows for closer examination of the autonomous movement by determining and objectively evaluating the impact of various factors on the results of the control process. The Stanley’s controller is one of the most promising and effective controllers, however, its performance is dependent on the movement conditions. Based on the performed simulations, this study presents an analysis of the Stanley’s controller efficiency, while in a constant radius turn moving autonomous ground vehicle was affected by various types of perturbations: steering angle, movement coordinates and movement velocity. The results of such analysis can be applied while seeking to modify the Stanley’s controller in order to apply it to the autonomous ground vehicle control under various and changing movement conditions.