National Institute of Technology Puducherry
Karaikal – 609 609.
Department of Mechanical Engineering
2025 – 2026 Odd Semester
Project Phase I
Zeroth Review Meeting
Trajectory Tracking & Lateral Stability control of Autonomous
vehicles
Sumbul Ansari (ME22B1041)
Vikram Sahu (ME22B1044)
Project Guide
Dr. P. Sathishkumar
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
NIT Puducherry, Karaikal
Introduction
• Autonomous vehicles are transforming mobility by driving without human input using
sensors, control systems, and intelligent algorithms.
• A major challenge is making the vehicle accurately follow a planned path (trajectory
tracking) while staying stable during maneuvers (lateral stability control).
• This project focuses on designing and testing control strategies to:
- Maintain precise lane following and turning
- Ensure safety and balance during lateral movements
• The aim is to enhance the reliability and performance of self-driving vehicles under
different driving conditions.
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Literature Review
Authors & Paper Name Vehicle Main Contribution Inference
Model
Gonzalez et al. (2016) Urban Reviewed motion planning Highlights practical
A Review of Motion Planning Autonomous Car methods (RRT, PRM) used in applicability for lane-
Techniques for Automated autonomous city driving change and obstacle
Vehicles with PID-based control avoidance.
integration.
Zhao et al. (2018) Dynamic Bicycle Introduced real-time Adaptive feedback
Trajectory Tracking Considering Model cornering stiffness enhances lateral
Cornering Characteristics estimation to dynamically accuracy under varying
tune PID gains. tire-road conditions.
Lin et al. (2020) 3-DOF with Yaw Combined yaw stabilization Enables safe cornering
Path Tracking Control and Roll and roll control using an and roll prevention via
Considering Roll Stability Dynamics MPC with fuzzy PID-based active braking.
braking strategy.
Chu et al. (2023) 3-DOF Dynamic Proposed a hybrid control Dual-mode control
Trajectory Tracking of Model system combining Artificial improves tracking
Autonomous Vehicle Based on Potential Field trajectory smoothness and curve
MPC with PID Feedback planning with a feedback- handling over
enhanced PID-MPC conventional MPC.
controller. 3
Problem Identification
• In an Autonomous vehicle trajectory tracking or path following control, maintaining vehicle’s stability
during high steering inputs is a crucial challenge, particularly under extreme handling conditions as
mentioned in Fig. (Red, coloured trajectories).
• During extreme handling maneuvres, increased steering angles can cause significant deviations in yaw
rate and side-slip angle, pushing the vehicle state beyond stable equilibrium and leading to dangerous
behaviours such as drift or lateral sliding.
• Rapid rise in steering inputs result in higher front tire slip angles, leading to lateral force reduction due
to tire saturation. This induces a limit understeer condition which will reduce the vehicle’s sensitivity to
further steering commands and impairing directional control.
• Traditional stability envelopes fail to fully capture the nonlinear nature of tire-road interactions,
particularly near the limits of adhesion.
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Novelty of the Project Work
• Most systems handle either path tracking or vehicle balance, this project does both at
the same time, so the vehicle follows the path accurately without losing control in turns.
• It doesn’t just follow the road, it also keeps the car steady and safe during sharp turns
or lane changes by managing sideways slip and rollover risk.
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Objectives of the Project Work
The main objective of our project is to develop a computationally efficient path-tracking
control strategy for autonomous vehicles that ensures both precise trajectory tracking and
dynamic stability by steering angle envelopes under various driving conditions and
manoeuvres. The sub-objectives of the project are as follows
•To design phase portrait envelopes that capture the permissible dynamic states for safe and
stable AV operation, including lateral acceleration, yaw rate, and body-slip angle.
•To develop a trajectory tracking controller that incorporates both road and handling stability
criteria for improved path-tracking and to prevent instability such as understeer or oversteer.
•To implement a lateral stability control strategy that actively monitors and corrects
deviations under varying driving, road-adhesion including emergency steering manoeuvres.
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Work to be carried out
Phase I
•Literature Review: Study of existing trajectory tracking Methods such as Geometric (PP & SM) And
Data based (Kinematic and Dynamics) Methods
Reviewing the Research papers on PID and Model Predictive Control (MPC)
controller to understand the working, advantage and limitations.
•Trajectory Tracking: Using Geometric and Data Based model in MATLAB/Simulink for trajectory
Tracking.
Implementing control strategies (e.g. PID, MPC etc.) for accurate tracking in
MATLAB.
Designing reference trajectories (straight paths, curves, lane changes and other
real-world conditions) using MATLAB scripting.
Phase II
•Literature Review on Lateral Stability: Study factors affecting lateral stability (yaw rate, sideslip,
etc.)
•Lateral Stability: Incorporate lateral dynamics (e.g. using a dynamic half car and full car model)
Lateral Stability irrespective of speed, yaw Rate and other dynamics factors
Integration of Trajectory Tracking and Lateral Stability under different scenarios7 to
Expected Outcomes of the Project Work
Phase I
•Accurate Trajectory Tracking:
Development of a simulation-based vehicle model capable of following
predefined paths (straight, curved, lane-change) with minimal cross-track and heading errors.
•Comparative Evaluation of Controllers:
Performance comparison of various trajectory tracking
algorithms (e.g., PID, MPC) in terms of accuracy, stability, response time, Advantage and Limitations
under varying driving conditions.
Phase II
•Lateral Stability Control:
Design and validation of a lateral stability controller to enhance vehicle safety
during high-speed maneuvers, sharp turns, or path disturbances.
•Validated Results:
Results demonstrating both effective path tracking and lateral stability under different
test scenarios (e.g., obstacle avoidance, sudden steering inputs).
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Timeline of the Project Work
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Weeks Week Week Week Week
Months
July Research Topic And Faculty Zeroth Review
August Literature Review Control Strategies (PID, MPC etc.)
and Vehicle Model using MATLAB
September Trajectory Tracking Using MATLAB Improvement in the
Trajectory
Tracking(If Needed)
October Testing the Autonomous Vehicle on some Designed
reference trajectories (straight paths, curves, lane
changes) using MATLAB scripting.
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Contribution of the Team members
S. Name and Roll No. of Specific Contribution
No. Team member
1. Sumbul Ansari Introduction, Literature review, Problem Identification, Novelty of Project,
ME22B1041 adding contents to ppt.
2. Vikram Sahu Objectives of Project, Work to be carried out, Expected Outcomes,
ME22B1044 Timeline, ppt editing and formatting.
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References
Chu, J., Zhang, H., & Li, X. (2023). Trajectory tracking of autonomous vehicle based on MPC with
PID feedback. International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems, 21(2), 345–356.
https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx
Gonzalez, D., Pérez, J., Milanés, V., & Nashashibi, F. (2016). A review of motion planning
techniques for automated vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems,
17(4), 1135–1145. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2015.2498841
Zhao, Y., Wang, J., & Lin, C. (2018). Trajectory tracking considering cornering characteristics.
Vehicle System Dynamics, 56(9), 1321–1339. https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2017.1363920
Lin, H., Zhang, W., & Liu, Y. (2020). Path tracking control considering roll stability. IEEE
Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 69(3), 2730–2740.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TVT.2019.2962557
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