IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONTROL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 3, NO.

I , MARCH 1995 I75

Arbitrary Path Tracking Control of Articulated

Vehicles Using Nonlinear Control Theory
Mitsuji Sampei, Member, IEEE, Takeshi Tamura, Tadaharu Kobayashi, and Nobuhiro Shibui

Abstract-In this paper, we will design a path tracking con-
troller for an articulated vehicle (a semitrailer-like vehicle) using
time scale transformation and exact linearization. The proposed
controller allows articulated vehicles to Follow arbitrary paths
consisting of arcs and lines, while they are moving forward
andlor backward. The experimental result of the &shaped path
tracking control of the articulated vehicle moving backward is
also presented.
1. INTRODUCTION
feedback. Finally, design a linear controller for the linearized
system.
Theoretically, we can design controllers for any smooth
paths using the same strategy. But they will be much more
complicated and not realistic. So we will propose a control
strategy to make the vehicle follow paths consisting of lines
and arcs by switching the path tracking controllers for straight
lines and circles. Of course, the vehicle cannot exactly track
such paths, but our controller allows the vehicle to approxi-
mately follow them without discontinuous steering angle. In

T HE path tracking control of articulated vehicles is difficult

especially when they are moving backward. For example.
even if we would like them to follow a straight line while they
the simulation and the experiment, we will show that our
controller properly controls the vehicle to follow the 8-shaped
path while it is moving backward.
are moving backward, they will soon end up jackknifing and
go out of control. Although we need this kind of control when
11. EXACTLINEARIZATION
[I]. [ 2 ]
we put them into garages, no effective methods have been
proposed yet. In this section, we will summarize the result of the exact
On the other hand, several works have been done on the linearization [I], [ 2 ] which will be used in the controller de-
path tracking control of car-like mobile robots [5]-[I I]. In sign. Consider the nonlinear system expressed in the following
[SI-[9], it is achieved by designing a controller which makes nonlinear state equation
the robot follow the moving reference. A control law to make d.r
a car-like robot follow paths consisting of lines and arcs is (it
- = .f(.r) + /J(X)I/, f(0) = 0. (1)
proposed in [lo], [ I l l . These results, however, have not been
extended to the case of articulated vehicles (trailer-like mobile One of the easiest way to design a stabilizing controller
robots), or they do not seem to be easily extended. for this system is to use the linearization. In a conventional
way, we approximately linearize the state equation and then
In this paper, we will propose a control law which makes
the articulated vehicle follow any paths consisting of lines and design a linear stabilizing controller. This controller, however.
arcs, as the vehicle moves forward and/or backward. The basic guarantees the stability of the closed-loop system only in a
idea of our controller is different from those in [5]-[ 1 I], and (small) neighborhood of the origin (r=O).
The exact linearization is to find a coordinate transformation
the moving reference is not needed. The proposed controller
will be designed using the exact linearization method [l], [ 2 ] E = T(.r) (2)
and the time scale transformation [3], [4], which are developed
in nonlinear system theory. We will firstly design a straight and a nonlinear feedback
line path tracking controller, then that of circle path using the
same strategy.
The controller will be designed as follows. First, define a such that the original system (1) is transformed into a linear
new time scale which is identical to the distance along the <
system with the new state variable and the new input c. With
desired path and describe the model of the vehicle using a state the coordinate transformation ( 2 ) and the nonlinear feedback
equation with this time scale. Then exactly linearize this state (3), the original state equation (1) is transformed into the
equation with appropriate state coordinate transformation and following nonlinear state equation with the state E
Manuscript received November 8, 1993; revised October 12, 1994. Recom- 4 __
- d< flJ
._
mended by Associate Guest Editor H. Hashimoto (it 83 dt
M. Sampei is with the Department of Mechanical and Environmental
Informalics, Tokyo Institute of Technology. 2- 12- I Oh-Okayama Meguro-ku a<
== -{ f(3) + .y(s)((Y(.I.) + [q r ) u ) }
Tokyo, Japan. 8.r.
T. Tamura. T. Kobayashi, and N. Shibui are with the Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Chiba University. 1-33 Yayoi-cho,
Chiba 260, Japan.
IEEE Log Number 9408636.

1063-6536/95$04.00 0 1995 XEBE

I26 lEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONTROL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, VOL 3. NO. 1. MARCH 1995

A /

If this system is a linear one, i.e.,

the original system ( 1 ) is exactly transformed into a linear

system.
The stabilizing controller can be designed using the con-
ventional linear control theory, for example, a state feedback
is

and the real input U should be

71 = .(x) + /~(.E)U
= u(.r) + /&c)F<
+
= fl(.r) [ j ( Z ) F T ( T ) . (71

This controller guarantees the stability of the closed-loop

system not only in a (small) neighborhood of the origin, but
in a large area of the state space (as far as the coordinate
transformation (2) and the feedback (3) exist).
The References [l], [2] presented the necessary and suf-
ficient conditions for the system to be exactly linearized Fig. 1. The articulated vehicle.

and how to obtain linearizing coordinate transformation and

feedback.
111. DESIGN OF A STRAIGHT LINETRACKING
CONTROLLER
A . Modelirig of the Articulated Vehicle
We will consider the articulated vehicle shown in Fig. 1
(X,Y ) arc Cartesian coordinates which represent the position
of the vehicle. y2 represents deviation from the desired path
(the X-axis). We use the following symbols.
Symbols in the Tractor
Pl The middle point of the tractor’s rear wheels.
Its Cartesian coordinates are ( T I ,gl),
O1 The center of rotation of the tractor.
Q The steering axis ( 0 1 P l I P l Q ) .
L1 The wheelbase of the tractor.
O1 The orientation of the tractor with respect to
the semitrailer.
(Y The steering angle.
z The distance along the real path of 1’1.
Symbols in the Semitrailer
The middle point of the semitrailer’s rear wheels.
Its Cartesian coordinates are ( s a , y2).
The center of rotation of the semitrailer.
The wheelbase of the semitrailer.
(The distance between PI and P2).
The orientation of the semitrailer with respect
to X-axis.
The distance along the real path of f’2.
The objecl of this section is to design a controller which
makes the vehicle follow the X-axis, i.e., y2 -+ 0, 81 -+ 0
and 02 -+ 0 as it moves forward or backward.
To simplify the model of the vehicle, we will use the
following assumptions.
Assumptions
A-1) The vehicle moves on a flat plane.
A-2) The tractor has only three wheel? and the vehicle
movIcs slow enough that there are no skid in any
wheels.
A-3) The joint which connects the tractor and the semi-
trailer is located at point P I , i.e., the middle point of
the tractor’s rear wheels.
Remark 1: As we will show in the experimental result in
the later section, the proposed controller will also work even
if the vehicle does not exactly satisfy these assumptions.
Under these assumptions, we can geometrically find that
0 1 and 0 2 in Fig. 1 are the center of rotation of the tractor
and the semilrailer, respectively. Thus, we have the following
differential equations
SAMPEI e / a/ PATH TR4CKINC COKTROL THEORY I27

- = c.os(0,;I
dZ

where (8) represent5 the behavior of the tractor, (9)-( 1 I)

represent that of the semitrailer, and (1 2) represents the relation
between the real path of the tractor and that of the semitrailer.
Since it will be hard to design a path tracking controller if
we describe the vehicle's behavior in the actual time scale t.
we will introduce a new time scale 131, 141. The new time scale
is .c2, i.e., the distance along the desired path. The differential
equations (8)-(12) can be summarized in the following state
equation with this time scale :rz Thus, we can obtain the exactly IineariLed 4ystem

q) (it ; !)<+ (8),o.

tali(&) 0

(20)
(kQ = (-2%) + (LL,."s(o;...-) t ,all( ( I ) . 3
dl., =
tan(H1)
LL C O S ( B 2 ) We can readily design any type of linear controllers for this

c:1
(13) linearized system. If we design a state feedback controller

The behavior of the new time scale : r ~i.e..

, the distance along
the desired path, is represented as '/I=(fl f2 .f3) (2 (21)
dz 2
- = c") c.os(H1)? (14)
dt then, from (15) and (l6), the steering angle CY is
where 2 is the velocity of the tractor. If 01 E ( - ~ / ' 2 , ~ / 2 ) . L~ c:os(81){3sin2(81)t . a i i ( 0 2 ) - tj;ln(H1)}
and Z > 0:.1:2 is a strictly monotone o = t'a~lC1
02 E (-7r/2,;7/2) L2
increasing function with respect to the actual time 1. On the
other hand, if we control i < 0, :r2 is a strictly monotone
decreasing function with respect to the actual time t. Thus. by
using (14), we can control the time scale :1:2 in state equation with
+ L1L2 "HI) cos,'(HL!)l'
1 (22)

(13).

B . Exact Linearization of the State Equation

We will linearize the state equation ( I 3) using the exact
linearization technique [ 11, [ 2 ] .By using the method proposed
This implies that rr can be determined by only using :yz, 01, and
0 2 . Moreover, if feedback (21) stabilizes system (20),
3:2 + ~m. Thus. y2 - 0 as
0, 01 -+ 0, and f?, + 0 as 2 2 increases.
-
in [I].we can easily find that the system (13) can be ex-
actly linearized by defining the following state variables and Since .I:' monotonically increases as the vehicle moves forward
feedback, where 1 ) is a new input ( i > 0), the vehicle tracks the X-axis as it moves forward.
Because of the definitions of the coordinate transformation
/ .Y2 \ (15) and feedback (16), this control works only if 0, E
(-./a. 7r/2), 02 E (-7r/2. ./a), and y E ( - m , m). But. as
it is shown in the Appendix, if the Configuration (the position
and the orientation) of the vehicle is once in this area, our
controller will never lead the vehicle's configuration out of
~1 c.os(H1){3sin2(H1) tr2ii(e2) tait(HI)} this area. Thus this set of configuration is the stability region.
[
~

fV = t a - l -
L2 If we use :I:; = - 2 : ~as a time scale and use the same
strategy, we can design a straight line tracking controller for
+
L1L*ros3(B1)( ' O S + y H L ) I ' .

By differentiating states (1, ( 2 , and (J with respect to .r2, we

1 (16) backward movement. It is because the new time scale :rL
increases as the vehicle moves backward.
The simulation of our controller is shown in Fig. 2. It
can easily check that system ( I 3) is exactly linearized with the shows that. with the proposed controller, the articulated vehicle
state and the input U . Observe that follows the desired straight line while it is moving forward
and/or backward.
4.l -
~~ - dm = t,a11(f12)= E2 (17) Remark 2: This strategy allows us to evaluate the perfor-
rl:x:2 d1.2
mance of the path tracking control analytically because it is
d(2 (1
~ = ~ tan(82) = expressed by a linear state equation. For example, we can
(l:I:2 d:r2
define poles of the path tracking control. We usually use poles
81)
__ _ 1 _ titll(0l)
__ _ _
1 _ - ~t , m (~
- = ,t3 (18) of systems to estimate how long (time) the state will take to
cos'((H2) Lz cos(&) L, ( ' O S y H ' ) converge to zero. In our case, the time scale of system (20)
 IEEF TRANSACTIONS ON CONTROL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, VO1 3 , NO I, MARCH 1995

”I
Y2

Fig. 2. The simulation of the straight line tracking control.

Fig. 3. The articulated vehicle with the desired circle path.

is the distance along the desired path, i.e., a’?. Thus, the poles
of the system allow us to estimate how long (distance) the Since 4 monotonically increases as the vehicle moves
state will take to converge to zero, i.e., how long distance forward, we will use 1 = Rq5 as the time scale, i.e., the distance
the vehicle will take to be on the desired path. This distance along the desired path. It is easily found that the following
is independent of the velocity of the vehicle if we use the state equation represents the behavior of the vehicle in the
proposed controller, as far as assumption A-2) is satisfied. polar coordinate
Remark 3: We can also design a servo controller r cot (02 --h)
R
’U = .fo
I (YZ - ~ T ) d z z + flh+ f z 4 2 + f 3 4 3
for the linearized system (20), where :yr is the reference
(24) - r t a n $1
RL2 sin(O2-4)

input. Since dx2 = cos(&) cos(8l)i dt from (14), v can be

numerically calculated as

0 =f o J (Y2 - Yr.) c o s ( 8 2 ) COS(8l)Z dt + fly2

where its time scale 1 is driven with the following state

equation
Iv. DESIGN OF A CIRCLE PATH TRACKING CONTROLLER dl - Rsin(O2 - &)
- - (.os( 01 ).i. (27)
We will design a circle path tracking controller using the dt r
same strategy. The difference is the choice of the time scale State equation (26) can be exactly linearized using the follow-
and the state variables. ing coordinate transformation and feedback
We will consider the articulated vehicle with the desired
circle path (Fig. 3). The position of the vehicle is represented T-R
by the polar coordinates (4, r ) whose origin is the center of
the desired circle path. The radius of the desired circle path
is R. Our purpose is T R as the vehicle moves forward
--f

andlor backward.
SAMPEl e'r PATH TRACKING CONTROL THEORY

initial
position

I L-J

ill the steering angle

for tracking Line I
(11 the steering angle
for tracklug Line 2

Line 2

\ C

Fig. 5. The simulation of the 8-rhapcd path tracking control.

Fig. 5. The controller switching strategy

f
I

I /

Fig. 6 . The configuration of the experimental system

where 11 is a new input and h = B 2 - ~ 4 . The linearized system is v. CONTROL STRATEGY FOR FOLl.OWthG
PATHS CONSISTING OF LINESAND ARCS

(30) We can readily show that we can design path tracking

If we design a stabilizing controller for this linearized system,
< 0 as I increases. This implies that r 4R as the vehicle
moves forward, because I = Rq') increases as the vehicle
moves forward and E1 = - R. In other words, the vehicle
81'
follows the desired circle path.
In a similar way, we can design the circle path tracking
controller for backward movement and for forward movement
in the counter clockwise direction.
controllers for any kinds of smooth paths using the same
strategy, i.e., choose the distance along the desired path as the
time scale and linearize the behavior o f the vehicle using the
exact linearization technique. But such controllers are much
more coniplicated and not realistic. Thus, we approximate the
desired path with lines and arcs and design a controller for
following this approximated path. Since we have designed the
straight line and the circle path tracking controllers, we can
control the vehicle to follow paths consisting of lines and arcs
by switching these controllers. The problem is when we should
I30 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONTROL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, VOL 1. NO I , MARCH 1995

.-
- ‘A. :

” - -

* .

-_
r .

* . .-
‘ I

I . -
- -.. . . 10

. - ..
1

Fig. 7. The expepsmental result of the 8-shaped path tracking control.

switch the controllers. At least, the steering angle should be
continuous even if we switch the controllers. Thus, we use the
following strategy.
Only for simplicity, we consider the two straight lines (Line
1 and Line 2). We assume that the vehicle should track the Line
I first and then track the Line 2 (Fig. 4).
If the vehiclc: is come near to the crossing point C , we
will calculate the steering angle a1 for tracking Line 1 and
the steering angle a2 for tracking Line 2 at the same time.
At first, we will use cy1 to track Line 1. At the configuration
where a1 = a2, we will switch the controllers, i.e., we will
use 02, after that time, to track the Line 2. With this strategy.
the steering angle will be continuous even though we switch
the controllers.
With this control strategy, we can control the vehicle to
follow the 8-shaped path while it is moving backward (Fig. 5).
This path consists of two straight lines and two circles. We will
show the experimental result of this control in Fig. 7.
‘me configuration of the experimental system is shown
in Fig. 6. We attach the three markers on the vehicle and
measure their position using a CCD camera in the real time.
These positions are sent to the personal computer where
the vehicle’s position and orientation are calculated using
them. This personal computer is also used to implement the
SAMPEI r f al.: PATH TRACKING CONTROL THEORY
controller, and the command of the steering angle is sent to
the vehicle using Proportional Radio Controller.
As it is shown in Fig. 7, our controller successfully works
in the real situation even though the tractor has four wheels,
i.e.. Assumption A-2) is no{ satisfied.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have designed the path tracking controller
for articulated vehicles using nonlinear control theory. The
proposed controller allows vehicles to follow any paths con-
sisting of arcs and lines, while they are moving forward and/or
backward .
APPENDIX
STABILITY REGIONOF STRAIGHT LINETRACKING
CONTROL
In this appendix, we will show the stability region of the
straight line tracking control (22) and (23).
Let us define V c R4 as
(--.2 -) x (--,;-> x (-- -)
n-7r 7 r T 7r7r
= (- m,m) x (31)
2 2 2 2’ 2
and the mapping H as
H : V R4
(?/2,h,Q2. cy) H (<. (1) (32)
which is the combination of the coordinate transformation (IS)
and feedback ( 16). Obviously, W is bijection.
If we assume that the state feedback (21) stabilizes the
linearized system (20), (<. 71) always remains in R4 as far as
~2 monotonically increases. This implies (y2, Q1. 02, a ) always
remains in V as far as 22 increases. It is because H is bijection
the other hand, if we assume that ( , y 2 , 8 1 , 0 2 , a ) E V and
the tractor is moving forward ( 2 > O), then from (14), ~2
monotonically increases with respect to the actual time LThus,
we can conclude that, if the controller stabilizes the system
(20), (:y2.81,82, IL) E V at f = 0, and the tractor is moving
forward, then ( y 2 , 8 1 , 8 2 , a ) always remains in V for all t > 0
and z~ monotonically increases.
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Mitsuji Sampei (M’87) received the B.Eng..
M.Eng., and Dr.Eng. degrees in 1983, 1985, and
1987, respectively, all from Tokyo Institute of
Technology.
From 1987 to 1991, he was a Research Associate
in the Department 0 1 Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Chiba University. From 1991 to
1993, he was an Associate Professor in the same
department. Since 1993, he has been with the
Department of Mechanical and Environmental
Informatics, Tokyo Institute of Technology as an
Associate Professor. Dr. Sampei’s current research interests are in the fields of
nonlinear system theory and the control of non-holonornic systems including
mobile robots.
Takeshi Tamura received the B.Eng. and M.Eng.
degrees in 1991 and 1993, respectively, from Chiba
University. He is currently working at Mechatron-
ics Development Center of Ishikawajima-Harima
Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. His current research
interests include the control of mobile robots, robust
control, intelligent control, and identification.
Tadaharu Kobayashi received the B.Eng. and
M.Eng. degrees in 1992 and 1994. respectively.
from Chiba University. He is currently working
at Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. His current research
interests include the control of mobile robots and
airplanes.
Nobuhiro Shibui received the B.Eng. degree in
1993 from Chiba University. He is currently work-
ing at Audio-Video Systems Division of Matsushita
Communication Industrial Co., Ltd. His current re-
search interests include audio-visual systems and
mobile robots.