Constrained Backward Path Tracking Control using a Plug-in Jackknife Prevention System for Autonomous Tractor-Trailers

Jackknifing during tractor-trailer reverse driving presents a major challenge in control system design. In this paper, maneuverability conditions were explicitly derived for tractor-trailer systems that are hitched off-axle. A control safety governor was designed and constructed to guarantee that the system stays within the derived maneuverability conditions under steering rate constraints using any controller. The control safety governor is decoupled from the controller so that it can be used in a plug-in fashion with minimal interference. The performance of the designed system was tested for a neural network controller on an increasingly rigorous path with introduced discontinuities. Results show that the system was able to successfully track the path without jackknifing. The novelty of this work lies in providing a solution that is capable of guaranteeing jackknife prevention for any reverse path tracking controller for tractor-trailer systems.