An Improved Pure Pursuit Algorithm for the Automated Steering Control of Road Vehicles

Pure Pursuit (PP) is the most popularly used path tracking algorithm for automated steering. In its classic form, PP requires careful tuning of the preview distance. A small preview generally improves the vehicle path tracking but can cause instability issues at high speeds. Considering this, we introduce an automatic adjustment technique for the preview distance which improves both path tracking and lateral stability of the vehicle. This is combined with a yaw rate feedback to form an improved PP controller. Simulations in TruckMaker show that the designed controller can successfully keep an articulated HGV (a tractor-semitrailer) stable, even at higher speeds. Path tracking performance is also improved, here by 60.6% for an SAE J2179 lane change maneuver, compared to classic PP.