Optimal braking and steering control for active safety

The paper summarizes the development of an optimal braking and steering control for collision avoidance maneuver. The goal is to minimize the distance to the target vehicle ahead of the host vehicle subject to vehicle and environment constraints. Comparative study of standalone steering versus braking in a collision avoidance maneuver is given and results are discussed. The collision avoidance steering maneuver is effective only when the forward velocity is above a certain limit dictated by the surface friction coefficient and vehicle/tire characteristics. The algorithms were implemented in Simulink and verified in CarSim. The results indicate that there is an optimal braking and steering control resulting in minimal distance needed for collision avoidance maneuvers.