Speed control for reduced risk of collision with oncoming vehicles in obstacle avoidance scenarios

Paper in proceeding, 2016

When a driver performs an evasive steering manoeuvre in order to avoid an obstacle, there is an increased risk of collisions with oncoming vehicles in the adjacent lane. A controller to reduce this risk of secondary collision by regulating the vehicle speed is designed and implemented. Simulations are preformed in IPG CarMaker with the new Volvo XC90 vehicle model and performance of the controller are compared with more conventional lateral stability controllers and unassisted manoeuvres. While lateral control can be of benefit in some cases, it can hurt in others. When combined with speed control however, consistent reductions in risk of secondary collisions are seen and in cases involving large velocity ratios or long obstacles, large reductions are observed.