Trajectory Tracking Control of an Autonomous Ground Vehicle

This thesis proposes a solution to the problem of making an autonomous nonholonomic ground vehicle track a special trajectory while following a reference velocity profile. The proposed strategies have been analyzed, simulated and eventually implemented and verified in Alice, Team Caltech's contribution to the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge competition for autonomous vehicles. The system architecture of Alice is reviewed. A kinematic vehicle model is derived. Lateral and longitudinal controllers are proposed and analyzed, with emphasis on the nonlinear state feedback lateral controller. Relevant implementation aspects and contingency management is discussed. Finally, results from simulation and field tests are presented and discussed.