Analysis, Synthesis and Experiments of Networked Platoons with Communication Constraints

Ge Guo,Ligang Wu,Zibao Lu

doi:10.7307/ptt.v29i1.1969

Abstract

This paper investigates the analysis and synthesis of networked vehicle platoons with communication delays, packet dropouts and disorders. In order to deal with the effects of the communication constraints, we introduce a novel Smart Data Processor (SDP) for each vehicle, by which the latest data packets from logic Data Packet Processor and the matched data packet from its Buffer can be obtained. Based on this mechanism, a leader-predecessor-follower control strategy is proposed. In order to guarantee the asymptotic and string stability, the platoon control problem is transformed into a multi-objective H∞-type synthesis problem with the multiple time-varying delays. A sufficient condition for designing the controller gain is derived by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. Numerous simulations and experiments with laboratory scale Arduino cars show the efficiency of the proposed methods.

Highlights

The past several decades have witnessed a considerable increase of highway traffic, so the traffic congestion, air pollution, enormous economic loss and even numerous casualties have become a series of serious problems in many metropolises, especially in China
This paper focuses on designing an appropriate control law ui for any 1≤i≤n such as longitudinal control of discrete-time vehicle platoon (Expression 2) shown in Figure 1 that can be asymptotically achieved with a desired distance between vehicle i and i-1 and string stability guaranteed
This paper investigates the platoon control system with communication delays, disorders and packet losses

Summary

Introduction

The past several decades have witnessed a considerable increase of highway traffic, so the traffic congestion, air pollution, enormous economic loss and even numerous casualties have become a series of serious problems in many metropolises, especially in China. A feasible solution for these problems is to increase road capacity by maintaining a small inter-vehicle distance. As this would be unsafe for human drivers, autonomous vehicular cooperative control will be required. The platoons of autonomous vehicles have attracted extensive interests in intelligent vehicle highway systems (IVHS) or automated highway/vehicle systems (AHVS) due to its potential to largely benefit the road traffic [1,2,3]. Control of platoon of vehicles has been researched in different aspects and from different viewpoints [4]. To name just a few, Barooah [5] introduced a mistuning-based control method to improve the stability margin of vehicular platoon; Dunbar and Derek [6] designed a distributed receding horizon controller and derived sufficient conditions to ensure string stability; Kianfar [7] performed platoon control in the real world, among many others

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Methods

Conclusion