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Environmental perception is a crucial subsystem in autonomous vehicles. In order to build safe and efficient traffic transportation, several researches have been proposed to build accurate, robust and real-time perception systems. Camera and LiDAR are widely equipped on autonomous self-driving cars and developed with many algorithms in recent years. The fusion system of camera and LiDAR provides state-of the-art methods for environmental perception due to the defects of single vehicular sensor. Extrinsic parameter calibration is able to align the coordinate systems of sensors and has been drawing enormous attention. However, differ from spatial alignment of two sensors’ data, joint calibration of multi-sensors (more than two sensors) should balance the degree of alignment between each two sensors.

Tracking vehicle trajectories is essential for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems to understand traffic environment and evaluate collision risk. In order to reduce the position deviation and fluctuation of tracking on-road vehicle by millimeter-wave radar (MMWR), an interactive multi-model Kalman filter (IMM-KF) tracking algorithm including data association and track management is proposed. In general, it is difficult to model the target vehicle accurately due to lack of vehicle kinematics parameters, like wheel base, uncertainty of driving behavior and limitation of sensor’s field of view. To handle the uncertainty problem, an interacting multiple model (IMM) approach using Kalman filters is employed to estimate multitarget’s states. Then the compensation of radar ego motion is achieved, since the original measurement is under the radar polar coordinate system.

Engine start while driving is one of the most typical and frequent work conditions for hybrid vehicles. Engine start has very significant impact on the driving comfort. Engine start, especially a dynamical engine start, have high control requirements regarding control time, torque output and riding comfort. In some hybrid transmissions such as P2, engine is cranked and synchronized through wet clutch slipping. Because clutch pressure control has time-varying delay and estimation precision of engine torque by ECU (Engine Control Unit) is poor, conventional PID controller is unable to meet the high requirements of control quality. A new control algorithm is proposed in this paper to cope with all these challenges. The new control algorithm is based on LADRC (Linear Active Disturbance Rejection Controller) and is improved through combination with Smith predictor and Adaline network. LADRC is adopted to reduce negative effects of poor precision of engine torque.

Biomechanics and biodynamics are increasingly focused on the automotive industry to provide comfortable driving environment, reduce driver fatigue, and improve passenger safety. Man-centered conception is a growing emphasis on the open design of automobile. During the long-term driving, occupational drivers are easily exposed to the neck pain, so it is important to reduce the muscle force load and its fatigue, which are not usually considered quantitatively during traditional ergonomics design, so standards related are not well developed to guide the vehicle design; On the other hand, the head-neck models are always built based on the statics theory, these are not sufficient to predict the instantaneous variation of the muscle force. In this paper, a head-neck model with multi DOFs is created based on multibody dynamics. Firstly, a driver-vehicle-road model considering driver multi-rigid body model, vehicle subsystems, and different ranks of pavement is built.

To solve the problem of serious roller wear and improve the smoothness of the sliding door motion process, the rigid-flexible coupling multi-body model of the vehicle sliding door was built in ADAMS. Force boundary conditions of the model were determined to meet the speed requirement of monitoring point and time requirement of door opening-closing process according to the bench test specification. The results of dynamic simulation agreed well with that of test so the practicability and credibility of the model was verified. In the optimization of the ride comfort of the sliding door, two different schemes were proposed. The one was to optimize the position of hinge pivots and the other was to optimize the structural parameters of the middle guide. The impact load of lead roller on middle guide, the curvature of the motion trajectory and angular acceleration of the sliding door centroid were taken as optimization objectives.

Path tracking is the rudimentary capability and primary task for autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs). In this paper, a novel four-wheel-independent-steering (4WIS) and four-wheel-independent-drive (4WID) electric vehicle (EV) is proposed which is equipped with steer-by-wire (SBW) system. For path-tracking controller design, the nonlinear vehicle model with 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) is built utilizing the nonlinear Dugoff tire model. The nonlinear dynamic model of SBW system is conducted as well considering the external disturbances. As to the path-tracking controller design, an integrated four-wheel steering (4WS) and direct yaw-moment control (DYC) system is designed based on the model predictive control (MPC) algorithm to track the target path described by desired yaw angle and lateral displacement. Then, the fast terminal sliding mode controller (FTSMC) is proposed for the SBW system to suppress disturbances.

In order to improve the robustness and stability of autonomous vehicle at high speed, a path tracking approach which combines front steering and differential braking is investigated in this paper. A bicycle model with 3-DOFs is established and a linear time-varying predictive model using front steering as its control input can be derived. Based on model predictive theory, the path tracking issue using linear time-varying model predictive control can be transformed into an online quadratic programming problem with constraints. The expected front steering angle can be obtained from online moving optimization. Then the direct yawing control is adopted to treat two types of differential braking control. The first one investigates steady-state gain of yaw rate in linear 2-DOFs vehicle model, and designs a stable differential braking controller which is based on reference yaw rate.

A novel geared electromagnetic active suspension is proposed in this paper. A pushing rod and a rocker are introduced to transfer the suspension vertical motion to the rotational motion of the motor. Comparing with the common ball-screw active suspension, it presents advantages of simple structure, easy manufacturing and module design. As the state variables of the suspension system cannot be all obtained for the sake of cost, taking the suspension deflection as the measurement, an output feedback LQR optimal controller is adopted, and it is concluded that the system can be stable with damping. Considering the nonlinearity of equivalent stiffness and unsprung mass caused by the system structure, parameter perturbation ranges are concluded through dynamic analysis, and robust H∞ control algorithm is proposed to realize the multi-objective optimization.

Faced with intricate traffic conditions, the single sensor has been unable to meet the safety requirements of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. In the field of multi-target tracking, the number of targets detected by vision sensor is sometimes less than the current tracks while the number of targets detected by millimeter wave radar is more than the current tracks. Hence, a multi-sensor information fusion algorithm is presented by utilizing advantage of both vision sensor and millimeter wave radar. The multi-sensor fusion algorithm is based on centralized fusion strategy that the fusion center takes a unified track management. At First, vision sensor and radar are used to detect the target and to measure the range and the azimuth angle of the target. Then, the detections data from vision sensor and radar is transferred to fusion center to join the multi-target tracking with the prediction of current tracks.

The coordinated control of stability and steering systems in collision avoidance steering evasion has been widely studied in vehicle active safety area, but the studies are mainly aimed at autonomous vehicle without driver or conventional combustion engine vehicle. This paper focuses on the control of hybrid vehicle integrated with rear hub in emergency steering evasion situation, and considering the driver’s characteristics. First, the mathematics model of vehicle dynamics and driver has been given. Second, based on the planned steering evasion path, the model predictive control method is presented for achieving higher evasion path tracking accuracy under driver’s steering input. The prediction model includes an adaptive preview distance driver model and a vehicle dynamics model to predict the driver input and the vehicle trajectory.

With the development of autonomous driving, the penetration rate of autonomous vehicles on the road will continue to grow. As a result, the social cooperation ability of autonomous vehicles will have a great effect on the social acceptance of autonomous driving, which can be described as harmony with traffic. In order to research the evaluation method of the harmony with traffic, this paper proposes a subjective and objective mapping evaluation method based on the Mean Impact Value and Backpropagation (MIV-BP) Neural Network, with the merging vehicle on the expressway ramp as the research object. Firstly, by taking 16 original objective indexes obtained by theoretical analysis and the subjective evaluation results as input and output, respectively, the BP Neural Network model is constructed as a baseline model. Secondly, nine selected objective indexes are selected by the MIV method based on the baseline model.

Lane marking detection plays a crucial role in Autonomous Driving Systems or Advanced Driving Assistance System. Vision based lane marking detection technology has been well discussed and put into practical application. LiDAR is more stable for challenging environment compared to cameras, and with the development of LiDAR technology, price and lifetime are no longer an issue. We propose a lane marking detection algorithm based on solid-state LiDARs. First a series of data pre-processing operations were done for the solid-state LiDARs with small field of view, and the needed ground points are extracted by the RANSAC method. Then, based on the OTSU method, we propose an approach for extracting lane marking points using intensity information.

As one of the key technologies in autonomous driving, the lateral planning module guides the lateral movement during the driving process. An integrated lateral planning module should consider the non-holonomic constraints of a vehicle, the optimization of the generated trajectory and the applicability to various scenarios. However, the current lateral planning methods can only meet parts of these requirements. In order to satisfy all the performance requirements above, a novel Potential Field (PF) based lateral planning method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a PF model is built to describe the potential risk of the traffic entities, including the obstacles, road boundaries and lines. The potential fields of these traffic entities are determined by their properties and the traffic regulations. Secondly, the planning algorithm is presented, which comprises three modules: state prediction, state search and trajectory generation.

An integrated automatic driving system consists of perception, planning and control. As one of the key components of an autonomous driving system, the longitudinal planning module guides the vehicle to accelerate or decelerate automatically on the roads. A complete longitudinal planning module is supposed to consider the flexibility to various scenarios and multi-objective optimization including safety, comfort and efficiency. However, most of the current longitudinal planning methods can not meet all the requirements above. In order to satisfy the demands mentioned above, a new Potential Field (PF) based longitudinal planning method is presented in this paper. Firstly, a PF model is constructed to depict the potential risk of surrounding traffic entities, including obstacles and roads. The shape of each potential field is closely related to the property of the corresponding traffic entity.

For high levels autonomous driving functions, the Decision Layer often takes on more responsibility due to the requirement of facing more diverse and even rare conditions. It is very difficult to accurately find a safe and efficient lane change timing when autonomous vehicles encounter complex traffic flow and need to change lanes. The traditional method based on rules and experiences has the limitation that it is difficult to be taken into account all possible conditions. Therefore, this paper designs a lane-changing decision algorithm based on data-driven and machine learning, and uses the DQN (Deep Q Network) algorithm in Reinforcement Learning to determine the appropriate lane-changing timing and target lane. Firstly, the scene characteristics of the highway are analyzed, the input and output of the decision-making model are designated and the data from the Perception Layer are processed.

The past decade has witnessed the rapid development of autonomous parking technology, since it has promising capacity to improve traffic efficiency and reduce the burden on drivers. However, it is prone to the trap of self-centeredness when each vehicle is automated parking in isolation. And it is easy to cause traffic congestion and even chaos when multiple autonomous vehicles require of parking into the same lot. In order to address the multiple vehicle parking problem, we propose a parking planning method with genetic algorithm. Firstly, an optimal mathematic model is established to describe the multiple autonomous vehicle parking problem. Secondly, a genetic algorithm is designed to solve the optimization problem. Thirdly, illustrative examples are developed to verify the parking planner. The performance of the present method indicates its competence in addressing parking multiple autonomous vehicles problem.

Although autonomous valet parking technology can replace the driver to complete the parking operation, it is easy to cause traffic chaos in the case of lacking scheduling for multiple parking agents, especially when multiple cars compete for the same parking slot at the same time. Therefore, in order to ensure orderly traffic and parking safety, it is necessary to allocate parking slots reasonably for multiple autonomous valet parking vehicles. The parking slots allocation model is built as an optimal problem with constraints. Both parking mileage cost and parking difficult cost are considering at the objective function in the optimization problem. There are three types of constraints. The first is the capacity limit of a single parking slot, the second is the space limit occupied by a single vehicle, and the third is the total capacity limit of the parking lot. After establishing parking slots allocation model, the immune algorithm is coded to solve the problem.

A comfortable thermal environment can alleviate fatigue, reduce irritability, and improve driving safety. However, it is rather a challenge to evaluate thermal comfort inside a vehicle due to multifarious geometric and environmental factors as well as human differences. This study conducted a series of field experiments both in summer and winter conditions, measuring the thermal environment parameters inside the compartment and the skin temperature of experimental personnel, and carrying out subjective thermal sensation and comfort questionnaires. The experimental results showed that head and trunk are the most relevant parts of all human body parts to the overall thermal sensation/comfort. For overall thermal sensation, the value of regression R2 referring to head/trunk is 0.691/0.721, while those corresponding to overall thermal comfort is 0.802/0.773.

Harmony-with-traffic refers to the ability of autonomous vehicles to maximize the driving benefits such as comfort, efficiency, and energy consumption of themselves and the surrounding traffic during interactive driving under traffic rules. In the test of harmony-with-traffic, one or more background vehicles that can respond to the driving behavior of the vehicle under test are required. For this purpose, the functional requirements of car-following model for harmony-with-traffic evaluation are analyzed from the dimensions of test conditions, constraints, steady state and dynamic response. Based on them, an interactive car-following model (ICFM) is developed. In this model, the concept of equivalent distance is proposed to transfer lateral influence to longitudinal. The calculation methods of expected speed are designed according to the different car-following modes divided by interaction object, reaction distance and equivalent distance.

With the popularity of automated vehicles, the future mixed traffic flow contains automated vehicles with different degrees of intelligence developed by other manufacturers. Therefore, simulating the interaction behavior of automated vehicles with varying levels of intelligence is crucial for testing and evaluating autonomous driving systems. Since the algorithm of traffic vehicles with various intelligence levels is difficult to obtain, it leads to hardships in quantitatively characterizing their interaction behaviors. Therefore, this paper designs a new automated vehicle test platform to solve the problem. The intelligent vehicle testbed with multiple personalized in-vehicle control units in the loop consists of three parts: 1. Multiple controllers in the loop to simulate the behavior of traffic vehicles；2. The central console applies digital twin technology to share the same traffic scenario between the tested vehicle and the traffic vehicle, creating a mixed traffic flow. 3.