Development of Optimal Path Planning and Control System for Double-Trailer Truck

In this paper, an optimal path planning and control system are proposed for a double trailer truck (DTT). Tractor-trailers have different turning radius because they are multiple vehicles connected together. Because of these different turning radius, if the tractor corners along the lane center, the trailer is more likely to cause a lane invasion. Preventing lane invasions is difficult with double trailer trucks, which have a slightly different motion than single trailer trucks. To prevent double-trailer trucks from departing the lane, the turning radius of each vehicle unit is taken into account to generate an optimal path for all vehicle units to stay within lane boundaries. A optimal path planning algorithm using the internal division relation between the turning radius of each unit and the turning radius of the lane center of the road is proposed in this paper. In addition, by designing a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller for a double trailer truck, the improvement in path tracking performance is verified in simulations.