Design, Construction, and Validation of an Experimental Electric Vehicle with Trajectory Tracking

Area of Science:

• Automotive Engineering
• Robotics
• Control Systems

Background:

• Gasoline-powered vehicles present environmental concerns and high operational costs.
• Electrification of vehicles is a key trend in sustainable transportation.
• Existing golf carts offer a viable platform for experimental vehicle development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and build an experimental electric vehicle prototype.
• To develop and implement advanced control strategies for trajectory tracking.
• To evaluate the performance of different control algorithms on the prototype.

Main Methods:

• Conversion of a gasoline golf cart to electric power.
• Integration of sensors for vehicle state measurement (odometry, etc.).
• Development of a mathematical model and parametric identification strategy.
• Implementation of a master-slave communication architecture for vehicle control.
• Application of classical, geometric, and predictive control for trajectory tracking.

Main Results:

• Successful electrification and instrumentation of the golf cart.
• Functional master-slave communication system for real-time control.
• Demonstrated trajectory tracking capabilities across various maneuvers (lane change, curves, U-turns).
• Comparative analysis of control algorithm performance based on tracking error and control input.

Conclusions:

• The developed experimental electric vehicle prototype is capable of executing trajectory tracking tasks.
• The implemented control strategies show varying degrees of effectiveness depending on the trajectory type.
• This research provides a foundation for further development in autonomous electric vehicle control.