A Feedback Linearization Design for the Control of Vehicle's Lateral Dynamics

In this paper, the feedback linearization scheme is applied to the control of vehicle's lateral dynamics. Based on the assumption of constant driving speed, a second-order nonlinear lateral dynamical model is adopted for controller design. It was observed in Liaw and Chung (2006) that the saddle-node bifurcation would appear in vehicle dynamics with respect to the variation of the front wheel steering angle, which might result in spin and/or system instability. Feedback linearization control laws are proposed in this paper to stabilize the vehicle's dynamics at bifurcation points. Numerical simulations for an example model demonstrate the effectiveness of the analytical results