Virtual Rider Design : optimal manoeuvre definition and tracking

This chapter presents an effective means for exploring aggressive motorcycle trajectories. It discusses the problem of generating an optimal speed profile, taking into account the constraints imposed to the maximum acceleration and deceleration. The chapter describes a nonlinear control system (the virtual rider) with the capability of driving a multibody two-wheeled vehicle along a general user-specified ground path with a desired velocity profile. It describes a reduced-order manoeuvre regulation controller for controlling a multibody motorcycle model along the obtained optimal speed profile. The virtual rider is based on the sliding plane motorcycle (SPM) model. Dynamics inversion for the SPM model is obtained by embedding its dynamics into an extended control system by adding two non-physical control inputs. By optimizing away this additional control effort, a flatland trajectory can be converted into a full state-input trajectory. The controller is connected directly to an interface, allowing for closed-loop simulations