A model predictive control approach for highly automated vehicles in urban environments

Abstract

In this paper, a model predictive control (MPC) approach for the lateral and longitudinal control of a highly automated electric vehicle with all-wheel drive and dual-axis steering is presented. For the prediction of state trajectories a two-track vehicle model is used. The MPC problem for trajectory tracking is formulated by controlling the front and rear steering angle as well as the individual drive torques with respect to actuator and design constraints. Beside the steering angles, the MPC controller computes the individual drive torques to not only match the reference velocity but also to support the lateral dynamics of the vehicle using torque vectoring. The MPC problem is solved using ACADOS, a software package for efficiently solving optimal control problems. The effectiveness of the proposed MPC scheme is demonstrated via simulation.