Nonlinear cascade strategy for longitudinal control in automated vehicle guidance

This paper deals with automatic control design for automotive driving with a special focus on the longitudinal control. The automotive vehicle is a complex system characterised by highly nonlinear longitudinal and lateral coupled dynamics. Consequently, the control design for automated driving should deal with both of these dynamic couplings. Indeed, the longitudinal control plays an important role in the automated guidance to ensure safety and comfort of automotive passengers. In this work, a nonlinear cascade longitudinal control based on inner and outer-loops design is proposed. The lateral control is handled following a model predictive approach ensuring the automated steering of the vehicle. Finally, the nonlinear longitudinal control is integrated with the lateral control in a whole architecture to perform a coupled longitudinal and lateral control. The effectiveness of the automated driving strategy is highlighted through simulation results.