Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Approximation: Applications to Truck-Trailer Control System

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate the effectiveness of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) approximation based on deep neural network (DNN). MPC has been widely adopted in autonomous driving control problems to handle multiple objectives and constraints. We first design the implicit NMPC for the forward and backward motions of a truck-trailer (TT) system, which follows the reference path while maintaining safety between the head truck (HT) and the trailer (TR). However, the computational load in implicit MPC makes it a challenge for real-time implementations. To alleviate the computational burden in implicit NMPC online, an NMPC approximation approach based on DNN is adopted in this study to achieve a parametric function approximation. We conduct a comparative study on the proposed approach and a baseline controller for control performance analysis, and the computational load is evaluated on a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental system.