Control Design and Assessment for a Reversing Tractor–Trailer System Using a Cascade Controller

Abstract

In recent years, control design for unmanned systems, especially a tractor–trailer system, has gained popularity among researchers. The emergence of such interest is caused by the potential reduction in cost and shortage of number of workers and labors. Two industries will benefit from the advancements of these types of systems: agriculture and cargo. By using the unmanned tractor–trailer system, harvesting and cultivating plants will become a safe and easy task. It will also cause a reduction in cost which in turn reduces the price on the end consumers. On the other hand, by using the unmanned tractor–trailer system in the cargo industry, shipping cost and time for the item delivery will be reduced. The work presented in this paper focuses on the development of a path tracking and a cascaded controller to control a tractor–trailer in reverse motion. The path tracking controller utilizes the Frenet–Serret frame to control the kinematics of the tractor–trailer system on a desired path, while the cascade controller’s main objective is to stabilize the system and to perform commands issued by the path tracker. The controlled parameters in this proposed design are the lateral distance to a path, trailer’s heading angel, articulated angel, and articulated angle’s rate. The main goal of such controller is to follow a path while the tractor–trailer system is moving in reverse and controlling the stability of the articulated vehicle to prevent the occurrence of a jackknife incident (uncontrolled state). The proposed controller has been tested in a different scenario where a successful implementation has been shown.

Sliding Mode Controller for Autonomous Tractor-Trailer Vehicle Reverse Path Tracking

“…This work builds upon our previous efforts to develop control systems for safe path tracking of an off-axle hitched tractor-trailer vehicle in reverse motion [2,35,36]. Namely, we design and analyze a sliding mode controller for reverse path tracking.…”

The Effect of Sideslip on Jackknife Limits during Low Speed Trailer Operation

“…Chiu and Goswami derived analytical jackknife limits (named "critical hitch angle") for general vehicle-trailer systems [7]. Others have applied similar analytical forms of jackknife limits in their jackknife prevention method [8,9]. To the best of our knowledge, the work presented here is the first to examine the impact of sideslip on jackknife limits.…”

“…The criterion dividing Short and Medium Trailer, i.e., L 2 ≤ |L 1 cos β R sec β T |, is based on (9), which is a criterion for the existence of local minimum and maximum of Critical Vehicle Curvature. The criterion dividing Medium and Long Trailer, i.e., L 2 > |L 1 sec β T |, is based on (8), which is a criterion for bounded Critical Vehicle Curvature.…”

“…According to (9), ∂κ * /∂ψ can be positive, negative, or zero. Let ψ 1L be the hitch angle point adjacent to and on the left side of ψ 1 (i.e., less than ψ 1 ).…”

Investigation of Driving Stability of a Vehicle–Trailer Combination Depending on the Load’s Position Within the Trailer

“…Mechanical engineers use virtual models and software for modelling of road vehicles every day and these constitute an inseparable part of their work activities. These models allow the investigation of reactions and responses of road vehicles or road vehicle-trailer combinations to changes of input parameters, their driving properties and other factors, and additionally allow researchers to ascertain various means by which a reduction can be achieved in the cost associated with development and testing [1][2][3]. It is possible to obtain valuable information about an investi-gated subject in relatively short time.…”