A study on the improvement of the Pure Pursuit Method (Analysis of a tracking system using the Dual Preview Points Method)

The Pure Pursuit method has been widely used as a standard approach in many autonomous vehicles due to its ease of implementation and low computational cost. However, there is a trade-off between responsiveness and preview distance: while a longer preview distance is necessary to accommodate sudden changes in the reference trajectory, increasing this distance reduces the responsiveness of trajectory tracking. This trade-off arises from the dynamic characteristics of the trajectory tracking system when using the Pure Pursuit method. However, no prior studies have attempted to improve these dynamic characteristics by interpreting the system as a vibratory system. In this study, we aim to resolve the fundamental issues of the Pure Pursuit method while retaining its advantages, such as ease of implementation and low computational cost. Specifically, we propose adding an additional preview point ahead of the vehicle, enabling control over both the natural frequency and damping ratio. We provide a detailed explanation of this method and its practical application.