Autonomous maneuvers of a nonholonomic vehicle

Maneuvers of a nonholonomic vehicle in a structured dynamic environment are considered. The paper focuses on motion generation and control methods to autonomously perform lane following/changing and parallel parking maneuvers. Lane following/changing involves the tracking of a nominal trajectory in the traffic lane, and the generation and tracking of local lane-changing trajectories, for instance, for obstacle avoidance. Parallel parking involves a controlled sequence of motions, in order to localize a sufficient parking space, obtain a convenient start location for the vehicle and perform a parallel parking maneuver. The methods developed are tested on an automatic electric vehicle.