A new fractional-order sliding mode controller for the cruise control system of automatic vehicles

In this paper, a Fractional-Order Sliding Mode Controller (FOSMC) is proposed for the speed and position control of automatic vehicles in order to solve the cruise control problem in tracking a road vehicle. Cruise Control System (CCS) is a smart system used in modern autonomous vehicles in which the follower vehicle must follow a reference trajectory transmitted by a leading vehicle. Road safety and comfortable driving are among the results of using such controllers. However, traditional Integer-Order Sliding Mode Controllers (IOSMC) designed by other studies create chattering in the system which reduces performance by creating unwanted fluctuations. The novelty of this paper is to design a new FOSMC in order to achieve fast tracking in a cruise control system in the presence of model uncertainties and external disturbances. The proposed controller is then validated by simulating a CCS via MATLAB program. The simulation results and comparisons with IOSMC demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodologies. © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.