Combined Automatic Lane-Keeping and Driver´s Steering Through a 2-DOF Control Strategy

In this paper, we address the problem of combining automatic lane-keeping and driver´s steering for either obstacle avoidance or lane-change maneuvers for passing purposes or any other desired maneuvers, through a closed-loop control strategy. The automatic lane-keeping control loop is never opened, and no on/off switching strategy is used. During the driver´s maneuver, the vehicle lateral dynamics are controlled by the driver himself through the vehicle steering system. When there is no driver´s steering action, the vehicle center of gravity tracks the center of the traveling lane thanks to the automatic lane-keeping system. At the beginning (end) of the maneuver, the lane-keeping task is released (resumed) safely and smoothly. The performance of the proposed closed-loop structure is shown both by means of simulations and through experimental results obtained along Italian highways.