Gantry Virtual Track Train: Analysis of Vehicle Architecture and Path-Tracking Control Strategy

A newly designed gantry virtual track train (G-VTT) with all-wheel steering control was proposed, which can realize the trajectory of each axle following the front axle of the head car. The analysis method of the matching between vehicle architecture and path-tracking control algorithm and the concept of path-tracking independence were proposed based on decoupling control theory to verify the rationality of G-VTT architecture. The advantage of path-tracking independence is that there is no motion or force interference between each axle, which means the control of each axle can be performed independently and the existing single degree of freedom driver model can be utilized. A path-tracking control strategy based on angular transmission ratio (ATR) was proposed and compared with another two methods–the pure pursuit and Stanley algorithm. The result shows that: the G-VTT architecture has the characteristics of path-tracking independence and the decoupling control of lateral motion of each axle can be realized; compared with the pure pursuit and Stanley algorithm, the ATR algorithm with steering delay (SDATR) and the optimized SDATR algorithm can achieve considerable accuracy with less parameter requirements.