Design of a nonlinear trailer steering controller

In this paper the authors present a design approach of a nonlinear controller for steered semi-trailers of heavy commercial vehicles, which is used to improve their maneuverability. The proposed control structure uses the exact input-output linearization. Additionally, a sliding mode control approach (SMC) is used to overcome model uncertainties as well as control errors and increase robustness. The practicability of the control structure is shown with simulation results of a nonlinear three-dimensional multi-body model.