Reachability analysis of hybrid lateral control problem for automated heavy-duty vehicles

In this paper, we conduct the reachability analysis for the safe set when the lateral control problem of automated heavy-duty vehicles is formulated as a hybrid automaton. Since the lateral control problem consists of lane following and lane changing, switching between these operating modes gives the closed-loop system a hybrid nature. The lateral controller is designed using H_∞ loop-shaping method to ensure the robust performance under model uncertainties. It is designed to regulate the lateral deviation of the sensor output to zero under a lane following mode or make the lateral deviation to track a desired trajectory under a lane changing maneuver. Discrete states are given to represent different closed-loop systems for different operating modes. Worst case simulations are conducted to give the reachable sets for the lateral deviations on both nominal and perturbed plants. The results show that the reachable sets are in the safe region where the difference between the desired lateral deviation and the real lateral deviation is less than 0.2 m