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LE-PAVD: Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics for High-Speed Autonomous Navigation

Summary

Researchers propose LE-PAVD, a hybrid model integrating physics priors with learned components to improve vehicle dynamics prediction for high-speed autonomous racing. On unseen tracks, it reduces average displacement error by 16.1%, final displacement error by 20.6%, and yaw-rate RMSE by 91.3% versus a deep dynamics baseline, while using 21.6% fewer FLOPs and achieving ~1.5x faster inference. In closed-loop simulations, lap times improve by 17.4% on a training track and 9.5% on a test track with no boundary violations.

SourcearXiv RoboticsAuthor: Musabbir Ahmed Arrafi, Malik Ali, Nicholas M. Stiffler, Krishna Bhavithavya Kidambi
LE-PAVD: Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics for High-Speed Autonomous Navigation
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[2605.08489] LE-PAVD: Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics for High-Speed Autonomous Navigation

[Submitted on 8 May 2026]

Title:LE-PAVD: Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics for High-Speed Autonomous Navigation

View a PDF of the paper titled LE-PAVD: Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics for High-Speed Autonomous Navigation, by Musabbir Ahmed Arrafi and 3 other authors

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Abstract:Accurate modeling of nonlinear vehicle dynamics is essential for high-speed autonomous racing, where controllers operate at the handling limits. Model-based methods are interpretable but rely on simplifying assumptions, while purely learned models capture nonlinearities yet often lack physical consistency and generalization. We propose LE-PAVD (Learning-Enhanced Physics-Aware Vehicle Dynamics), a hybrid model that integrates physics priors with learned components. Our architecture adds four components: load-sensitive Pacejka tire forces, longitudinal load transfer, lateral tire-force effects, and rate-limited actuator inputs. Trained end-to-end on simulation and real-world telemetry, LE-PAVD enforces physical consistency while improving state prediction accuracy. On an unseen track, LE-PAVD reduces average displacement error (ADE) by 16.1$\%$, final displacement error (FDE) by 20.6$\%$, and lowers yaw-rate root mean squared error (RMSE) by 91.3$\%$ versus a deep dynamics baseline, while using 21.6$\%$ fewer FLOPs and achieving approximately 1.50$\times$ faster inference. In closed-loop simulations, LE-PAVD consistently outperforms the baseline by achieving faster lap times by 17.4$\%$ on a training track and 9.5$\%$ on a test track, without any track boundary violations. Overall, LE-PAVD offers a compact, physics-grounded dynamics backbone that improves predictive fidelity and closed-loop performance while reducing inference cost.

Subjects:

Robotics (cs.RO)

Cite as: arXiv:2605.08489 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2605.08489v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.08489

arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Submission history

From: Krishna Bhavithavya Kidambi [view email] [v1] Fri, 8 May 2026 21:07:47 UTC (1,939 KB)

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Key points and analysis

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Key points

  • LE-PAVD combines physics priors and learned components for enhanced nonlinear dynamics modeling.
  • On unseen tracks, displacement errors drop 16-20% and yaw-rate error drops 91.3%.
  • Computational efficiency increases: 21.6% fewer FLOPs, 1.5x faster inference.
  • Closed-loop simulations show significant lap time improvements without boundary violations.

Highlights and analysis are generated automatically and may contain errors. Check the original source.