Efficient Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Automated Vehicles

Abstract

In this paper, an efficient model predictive control (MPC) of velocity tracking of automated vehicles is proposed, in which a reference signal is given a priori. Five degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics with nonlinear tires is chosen as the prediction model, in which coupling characteristics of longitudinal and lateral dynamics are taken into account. In order to balance computational burden and prediction accuracy, Koopman operator theory is adopted to transform the nonlinear model into a global linear model. Then, the global linear model is used in the design of MPC to reduce online computational burden and avoid solving nonconvex/nonlinear optimization problems. Furthermore, the effectiveness of Koopman operator in vehicle dynamics control is verified using a Matlab/Simulink environment. Validation results demonstrate that dynamic mode decomposition with control (DMDc) and extended dynamic mode decomposition (EDMD) algorithms are more accurate in model validation and dynamic prediction than local linearization, and DMDc algorithm has less computational burden on solving optimization problems than the EDMD algorithm.