Path Planning and Guidance Laws of a Formula Student Driverless Car

Abstract

Autonomous driving has been a topic of great interest in several areas, of which motor racing is no exception. The aim of this work is the autonomous control of the future Formula Student Lisboa vehicle, by implementing different strategies for control and path planning, with the purpose of minimising race lap times. These strategies are tested in simulation, using a realistic model of the prototype. The approach followed involves the decoupling of the lateral and longitudinal subsystems and obtaining the reference path using artificial potential fields, combined with a two-pass algorithm developed to generate a speed profile. In this way, a sub-optimal solution is reached that adequately portrays the expected behaviour of a human driver while respecting traction conditions. The process of generating the speed reference requires prior knowledge of the track layout. This assumption is then eased for obstacle avoidance, i.e., for a scenario where, in addition to the track limits, unknown static obstacles are present. A decoupled control approach is followed controlling each of the two subsystems individually.