Path-tracking control of an autonomous 4WS4WD electric vehicle using driving motors' dynamics

A four-wheel steering four-wheel drive (4WS4WD) electric vehicle has an independent steering motor and an independent driving motor for each wheel, for a total of eight motors. The main advantages of this vehicle over conventional four-wheeled vehicles are maneuverability and efficiency. The existing solutions to the problem of path-tracking control of this vehicle have used mathematically sophisticated control and estimation techniques that have focused on the vehicle body dynamics. This paper shows that focusing instead on the motor dynamics helps control the vehicle using simpler techniques, and using fewer sensors and observers of the vehicle's states.