EFFECTS OF STEERING ANGLE SATURATION ON STABILITY OF REVERSING TRAILERS

Driver assistance systems are now a standard feature in modern passenger vehicles, primarily for improving safety and reducing fuel consumption. Extending these systems to freight transport is essential, particularly when addressing one of the most challenging maneuvers, the reversing. Reversing a long, articulated truck–semitrailer combination is inherently unstable, and requires active control to ensure safe maneuvering. The effect of steering angle saturation changes the dynamical properties of a truck–semitrailer combination. In this study, we examine the dynamics of a truck–semitrailer reversing maneuver and analyze how steering angle saturation affects the stability of the autonomous feature proposed for reversing a truck–semitrailer.