Lateral control strategy for autonomous steering of Ackerman-like vehicles

This paper presents the results of a lateral control strategy that has been applied to the problem of steering an autonomous vehicle using vision. The lateral control law has been designed for any kind of vehicle presenting the Ackerman kinematic model, accounting for the vehicle velocity as a crucial parameter for adapting the steering control response. This makes the control strategy suitable for either low or high speed vehicles. The stability of the control law has been analytically proved, and experimentally tested by autonomously steering Babieca, a Citroé́n Berlingo prototype vehicle. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.