Speed control experiments with an automated heavy vehicle

Presents experimental results of the first-stage implementation of a new generation of longitudinal controllers for commercial heavy vehicles. The experimental vehicle used is a Class-8 18-wheel tractor-trailer combination vehicle, equipped with electronic throttle, brake, and steering actuators, and the corresponding sensors for automated operation. In the first stage of the experiments we tested two of our speed control algorithms: fixed-gain PID and PIQ controllers. The verification of our theoretical predictions by the experimental results provides the basis for investigating further control performance improvement with more advanced controllers.