Application and analysis of a robust trajectory tracking controller for under-characterized autonomous vehicles

When developing path tracking controllers for autonomous vehicles the dynamic constraints of the vehicle are a critical factor. It is therefore necessary to ensure that all tracking trajectories produced by the controller are smooth and continuous. In this paper, a path tracking controller is proposed and implemented on an experimental autonomous vehicle. This tracking method decouples the low-level heading and steering control of the vehicle from the main tracking controller, therefore requiring less vehicle characterization. The results of this paper will show this method yields a RMS 0.25 m cross-track error with little to no vehicle characterization.