Automated control beyond the limits of friction

Abstract

Abstract—This paper proposes a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) application for automated drifting, with exper- imental verification on a standard production vehicle, without hardware modifications. The controller stabilizes the vehicle on a high sideslip angle, which implies an equilibrium condition beyond tyre friction limits. The proposed control strategy shows feasible results that succesfully brings the vehicle towards a high sideslip state, for a variety of drifting scenarios. Simulations show that the control structure is able to sustain an automated drift along a desired path, with maximal lateral path deviation of 1 meter. An experimental implementation on a production vehicle testbench without hardware modifications has shown feasible control of bringing the vehicle into a high sideslip state, for both low- and high μ situations.