Experimental stabilization of tractor and tractor-trailer like vehicles

An experimental study of recently proposed algorithms for the stabilization of autonomous vehicles (articulated and non-articulated) is carried out. The idea is to investigate extent by which experimental behavior is in agreement with convergence, stability and robustness properties that are predicted by theory and simulation tests. The study has been conducted using a test bench made of the ensemble of a modified version of a commercial mobile robot and of a modified version of the accompanying commercial software environment. The algorithms under consideration are based on exact input-output linearization, Lyapunov theory and fuzzy logic. Stabilization is ensured via a sequence of forward and reverse path-tracking maneuvers.