TIRE MODEL INCORPORATION TO LINEAR TIME VARYING MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL

An autonomous vehicle includes a system for operating the vehicle. A slip angle sensor measures a slip angle of a wheel of the autonomous vehicle. An accelerometer measures an acceleration of the autonomous vehicle. A steering actuator controls a steering angle of the autonomous vehicle. The processor determines a road friction coefficient of the at a selected prediction step, calculates a normal force for the autonomous vehicle from the acceleration, determines a wheel stiffness for the wheel for the normal force at the slip angle using the road friction coefficient based on a tire model for the wheel, calculates a steering command for the autonomous vehicle using a model predictive control having the wheel stiffness as input, and controls the steering actuator using the steering command to steer the autonomous vehicle.