| Abstract: | The paper is concerned with modelling car drivers. The context of the work presented is explained. Then, previous research on the application of optimal linear preview control theory to driving road vehicles with only modest excursions from a straight-running equilibrium state is extended into the general large-lateral-motion arena. Optimal controls are found for steady-cornering trim states of an exemplary car at a given speed as a function of cornering effort, up to the practical limit. The manner in which the optimal controls change as the cornering vigour changes is discussed. Simulations of the virtual driver-controlled car are shown to demonstrate the closed-loop system following lateral path demands and the advantages of employing gain-scheduled adaptive control over a fixed-control scheme are demonstrated. |
