Towards a practical virtual racing-car driver

Fundamental approaches to modelling the control of a car by a driver are reviewed briefly. The context of the work presented is explained. Then, previous research on the application of optimal linear preview control to aspects of driving road vehicles is extended. This prior research treated the tracking of a roadway by a vehicle and driver at constant forward speed and the tracking of a speed demand while running straight. The two previously separate problems are combined, so that longitudinal and lateral path demands are considered in parallel. A new feature is that low-pass filters are included in the driver modelling, to represent driver bandwidth limitations. This feature enables the finding of the influence of the driver's control bandwidth on the optimal strategies. A new optimal preview control toolbox is employed for the computations. A simulation of the virtual driver-controlled car is shown to demonstrate the closed-loop system following longitudinal and lateral position demands.