An experimentally validated LQR approach to autonomous drifting stabilization

This paper presents a drifting stabilizing controller for a rear-wheel-driven car, leveraging on front tyre steering angle and longitudinal force developed by rear tyres, the same control inputs available to a human driver. The proposed controller is based on a linear-quadratic regulator designed on a linearised single-track model of the vehicle, so that both longitudinal and lateral velocities along with yaw rate are stabilized. The controller has been experimentally validated on a scaled car. An extensive experimental campaign has been performed to demonstrate the robustness of this approach along with its shortcomings, that will be addressed in future works.