The Development of the Autonomous Tractor with Steering Controller Applied by Optimal Control

Abstract

This paper reported about new steering control algorithm for an autonomous vehicle. Thesteering controller developed in previous research was designed to guide along with a straightpath, and it didnt confirm the accuracy of following a curved path. But the robot tractor has tohave a function to travel along any curved path precisely to achieve the farm management by therobot. The steering control algorithm applied a linear optimal regulator was developed and testedat a field with some curved paths. The developed system showed the outstanding guidanceperformance comparing to a conventional method which used a PI controller on all types of thepaths including a 90 degree turn and a sinusoidal paths. In addition, the developed controllercould perform high-speed guidance at 3.0m/s more precisely than the conventional PI controller.