Performance-optimisation-based repetitive trajectory tracking control for autonomous farming vehicle

Abstract

The high precision trajectory tracking for the autonomous farming vehicle (AFV) is closely related to work quality and crop yield. Farmland operations are usually repetitive tillages, and the farmland soil is relatively soft, slippery, and uneven, which can easily lead to uncertain problems such as slippage, parameter perturbation, and external disturbance. This paper proposes a finite-time repetitive trajectory tracking control strategy integrated with particle swarm optimisation (PSO) and equivalent input disturbance (EID) for the AFV to achieve performance optimisation. The repetitive control framework with finite-time convergence technique can effectively realise the iterative convergence performance of the repetitive trajectory tracking. The PSO algorithm is integrated into determining the control gains to optimise the dynamic and steady-state performances of the trajectory tracking control system. The EID method enhances the tracking precision and robustness to internal and external disturbances. Under MATLAB/Simulink and CarSim co-simulation environment, the effectiveness and advantages of the designed control strategy are illustrated by comparing it with the traditional repetitive control, the EID-based PI control, the active-disturbance-rejection-control-based nonsingular terminal sliding mode control, as well as the sliding-mode-observer-based integral sliding mode control strategies for a farming vehicle.