Long Combination Vehicles Reverse Strategies Based on Articulation Angle Gradient

To guide the development of driver assistant systems and fully automated solutions for reversing long combination vehicles (LCVs), the principles for reversing LCVs are investigated using the articulation angle gradient. The widely used Steady-state Circling Limitation (SSCL) in reversing LCVs has two main drawbacks: it restricts vehicles from operating with large articulation angles crucial for tight spaces and lacks a well-defined feasible range. Two new reverse principles are introduced that can provide better insight. The first principle extends SSCL to include more extreme articulation angles for single-articulated vehicles. It also addresses the necessity of considering articulation gradients when developing the continuous reverse limitation for multi-articulated vehicles. The second principle introduces limited distance reversing for vehicles that no longer meet the first principle’s requirements, providing additional vehicle ending poses useful for tasks like loading and coupling.