Research on Active Trailer Steering Control Strategy of Tractor Semitrailer under Medium-/High-Speed Conditions

The study proposes an active trailer steering control method for tractor semitrailers to promote the path tracking effect of the trailer portion as well as lateral stability during lane changing. Firstly, a simplified model of a tractor semitrailer is constructed, and the MAP map is formed based on the genetic algorithm for the identification of the key parameters, which improves the model’s accuracy. Then the tractor and trailer’s yaw rate and sideslip angle at CG are tracked as the control objective and the trailer angle distribution strategy is given. Then the LQR-based corner controller is designed to control the steering actuators of each axle of the trailer. Finally, the effectiveness of the designed control strategy is verified based on the Trucksim/Simulink joint simulation platform and the semi-physical HiL test platform. The simulation results show that the designed controller can effectively improve the path tracking effect of the tractor and the trailer, and at the same time, the lateral stability parameters of the tractor and the trailer are also significantly improved, which improves the driving stability of the tractor semitrailer.