Road adhesion coefficient Estimation: Physics-informed deep learning method with vehicle dynamics model

Abstract

Road adhesion coefficient (RAC) is not only a significant basis for trajectory planning and decision-making of autonomous vehicles but also a critical parameter to determine the control potential of autonomous vehicles under complex operating conditions. Accurate, timely, and reliable estimation of RAC facilitates many function units of autonomous vehicles and improves driving safety. To address the issues of low accuracy and transparency of RAC estimation method based on road surface image recognition, a vehicle dynamics model-informed deep learning (VDMIDL) method for RAC estimation is proposed in this work. The physics information related to vehicle dynamics is integrated into a CNN-based deep learning model via the fusion of vehicle physical features and high-dimensional road surface image features to realize accurate estimation of RAC. The results of the model training show that the proposed VDMIDL model for RAC estimation possesses higher prediction accuracy compared with the conventional deep learning (CDL) model. The vehicle test results indicate that the proposed VDMIDL model can provide more prospective and precise RAC for trajectory planning, decision-making, and control of the vehicle in response to sudden variations in road conditions. The VDMIDL model is applicable to a wide range of road conditions. RAC estimated by the VDMIDL model is accurate and stable under poor road condition in particular. The proposed fusion estimation model incorporates more physics information into deep learning model, endowing more interpretability and transparency to the black-box model.