Follow the Past: a path-tracking algorithm for autonomous vehicles

A number of algorithms for path tracking are described in the robotics literature. Traditional algorithms, like Pure Pursuit and Follow the Carrot, use position information to compute steering commands that make a vehicle follow a pre-defined path approximately. These algorithms are well known to cut corners, since they do not explicitly take into account the actual curvature of the path. In this paper we present a novel algorithm that uses recorded steering commands to overcome this problem. The algorithm is constructed within the behavioural paradigm common in intelligent robotics and is divided into three separate behaviours, each responsible for one aspect of the path-tracking task. The algorithm is implemented both on a simulator for autonomous forest machines and a physical small-scale robot. The results are compared with the Pure Pursuit and the Follow the Carrot algorithms and show a significant improvement in performance.