Experimental results on combined automatic lane keeping and driver´s steering

In this paper we address the problem of combining automatic lane keeping and driver´s steering for either obstacle avoidance or lane change maneuvers for passing purpose or any other desired maneuvers, through a closed loop control strategy. The automatic lane keeping control loop is never opened, and no on/off switching strategy is used. During the driver´s maneuver, the vehicle lateral dynamics is controlled by the driver himself through the vehicle steering system. When there is no driver´s steering action, the vehicle center of gravity tracks the center of the travelling lane thanks to the automatic lane keeping system. At the beginning (end) of the maneuver, the lane keeping task is released (resumed) safely and smoothly. Experimental results obtained with the proposed two DOF structure along italian highways are presented.