Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Active Disturbance Rejection Control for Trajectory Tracking of Autonomous Ground Electric Vehicles

Xianjian Jin, Huaizhen Lv, Yinchen Tao, Jianning Lu, Jianbo Lv, Nonsly Valerienne Opinat Ikiela

This paper proposes an integrated control framework for improving the trajectory tracking performance of autonomous ground electric vehicles (AGEVs) under complex disturbances, including parameter uncertainties, and environmental changes. The framework integrates active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) for real-time disturbance estimation and compensation with a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG)-based deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm for dynamic optimization of controller parameters to improve tracking accuracy and robustness. More specifically, it combines the Line of Sight (LOS) guidance rate with ADRC, proves the stability of LOS through the Lyapunov law, and designs a yaw angle controller, using the extended state observer to reduce the impact of disturbances on tracking accuracy. And the approach also addresses the nonlinear vehicle dynamic characteristics of AGEVs while mitigating internal and external disturbances by leveraging the inherent decoupling capability of ADRC and the data-driven parameter adaptation capability of DDPG. Simulations via CarSim/Simulink are carried out to validate the controller performance in serpentine and double-lane-change maneuvers. The simulation results show that the proposed framework outperforms traditional control strategies with significant improvements in lateral tracking accuracy, yaw stability, and sideslip angle suppression.