FST-Convoy: A Leader Tracking Control of Vehicles Connected by Shape Sensor FST

Abstract

This paper describes FST-Convoy, a leader tracking control system for vehicles using the shape sensor flexible sensor tube (FST). Among many methods of autonomous driving, follow-driving is one of them. Some of these have been put into practical use in a limited environment. Unfortunately, there are situations in which such sensors do not work well. One of these is underground. In the underground, GNSS signals do not reach vehicles, so they cannot obtain their positions. Therefore, we propose a new way to achieve follow-driving in such environments. We used the shape sensor, FST. The FST is a shape sensor with a serial link structure and many joints. It can measure its shape by solving its kinematics and determine the relative position of the start link to the end link. Therefore, we can measure the relative positions of vehicles that connected a leader and a follower using FST. We call this system FST-Convoy. We developed and verified the system using a platooning-driving experiment.