Straight-line path following control of tractor-trailers with off-axle hitching and parameters uncertainties

In this work, we investigate the straight-line path following problem of tractor-trailers with off-axle hitching and parameter uncertainties. A sliding-mode variable structure and parameter adaptive controllers are proposed respectively achieving asymptotical stabilization of the tractor-trailers to the desired straight-line path in forward and backward manner despite unknown geometric parameters, while the linkage angle between the tractor and the trailer being kept bounded and convergent to zero. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes.