This paper investigates the impact of transient and nonlinear tyre dynamics on autonomous vehicle path following control. The two degrees of freedom bicycle model and a detailed vehicle model considering transient and nonlinear tyre dynamics are built respectively to describe the vehicle dynamics. Then, path following control strategy is designed based on the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control to compare the two models from the path following performance perspective. The control inputs are front wheel steering and differential motor torque. The double lane change simulation is conducted, and the results show that at low vehicle speeds, the path following errors of two models are very close, which proves the rationality of using the bicycle model to represent the vehicle dynamics in mild and moderate driving conditions. However, when the path following is conducted at a high vehicle speed, the required lateral tyre force is large, so the tyres work with large slip angles, and the tyre nonlinearity generates significant deviation on the path following errors between the two models.

University of Technology Sydney: Shilei Zhou, David Eager