A unified nonlinear controller for a platoon of car-like vehicles

This work presents a dynamics-based nonlinear tracking control scheme for a platoon of two car-like mobile robots. A unified controller is designed for both look-ahead and look-behind tracking. Look-ahead and look-behind tracking maneuvers require the following vehicle to follow the leading vehicle in two opposite directions: forward or backward, respectively. Furthermore, both steering control and driving control are also integrated in the unified controller. Tracking stability is ensured by proper design of a stable performance target equation. Simulation results show the control scheme work properly in both tracking cases. Simulations also investigate the influence of two important design parameters: the desired distance l and the desired steering angle ratio p. The results suggest that these parameters affect the system performance and require careful selection.