A minimax tracking design for wheeled vehicles with trailer based on adaptive fuzzy elimination scheme

A robust tracking control design for wheeled vehicle systems with trailer, based on adaptive fuzzy elimination technique, is proposed in this study. A minimax control equipped with adaptive fuzzy elimination scheme is used to achieve a robust tracking performance, despite the system uncertainties and external disturbance. The design procedure is divided into three steps. First, a nominal wheeled vehicle control design is obtained via model reference tracking with desired eigenvalue assignment. Second, a fuzzy logic system is constructed, which is subsequently tuned to eliminate the nonlinear uncertainties as much as possible, in order to enhance the tracking robustness. Finally, a minimax control scheme is specified to optimally attenuate the worst case effect of the residue of fuzzy elimination on tracking error below a desired level to meet a robust tracking performance. An adaptive fuzzy-based optimization theory has been employed to solve the minimax problem. A simulation experiment of the wheeled vehicle with trailer is also presented in order to illustrate the tracking performance of the proposed design method.