Driving an automobile safely requires a large amount of individual skill. Even if not generally recognized, the driver needs an intuitive ability to utilize feedforward and feedback control methods.

(a) In the process of steering a car, the objective is to keep the vehicle generally centered in the proper traffic lane. Thus, the controlled variable is some measure of that distance. If so, how is feedback control used to accomplish this objective? Identify the sensor(s), the actuator, how the appropriate control action is determined, and some likely disturbances.

(b) The process of braking/accelerating an auto is highly complex, requiring the skillful use of both feedback and feedforward mechanisms to drive safely. For feedback control, the driver normally uses distance to the vehicle ahead as the measured variable. The “set point” then is often recommended to be some distance related to speed for example, one car length separation for each 10 mph. If this assertion is correct, how does feed- forward control come into the accelerating (braking process when one is attempting to drive in traffic at a constant speed? In other words, what other information—in addition to distance separating the two vehicles, which obviously should never equal zero—does the driver utilize to avoid colliding with the car ahead?