A Waypoint Tracking Controller for Autonomous Road Vehicles Using ROS Framework

Rodrigo Gutiérrez-Moreno1, Elena López-Guillén1, Luis M. Bergasa1, Rafael Barea1, Óscar Pérez1, Carlos Gómez-Huélamo1, Felipe Arango1, Javier del Egido1, Joaquín López-Fernández2,
1Universidad de Alcalá, 2Universidad de Vigo,
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Abstract

Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) require robust and scalable control systems in order to achieve a safe, efficient and comfortable driving experience. Most global planners for autonomous vehicles provide as output a sequence of waypoints to be followed. This paper proposes a modular and scalable waypoint tracking controller for Robot Operating System (ROS)-based autonomous guided vehicles. The proposed controller performs a smooth interpolation of the waypoints and uses optimal control techniques to ensure robust trajectory tracking even at high speeds in urban environments (up to 50 km/h). The delays in the localization system and actuators are compensated in the control loop to stabilize the system. Forward velocity is adapted to path characteristics using a velocity profiler. The controller has been implemented as an ROS package providing scalability and exportability to the system in order to be used with a wide variety of simulators and real vehicles. We show the results of this controller using the novel and hyper realistic CARLA Simulator and carrying out a comparison with other standard and state-of-art trajectory tracking controllers.

BibTeX

@article{gutierrez2020controller,
  author    = {Gutiérrez-Moreno, Rodrigo and López-Guillén, Elena and Bergasa, Luis Miguel and Barea, Rafael and Pérez, Óscar and Gómez-Huelamo, Carlos and Arango, Felipe and del Egido, Javier and López-Fernández, Joaquín},
  title     = {A Waypoint Tracking Controller for Autonomous Road Vehicles Using ROS Framework},
  journal   = {Sensors},
  year      = {2020},
}