Consensus-Based Cooperative Control Based on Pollution Sensing and Traffic Information for Urban Traffic Networks.

Antonio Artuñedo,Rodolfo Haber,Raúl Del Toro

doi:10.3390/s17050953

Antonio Artuñedo, Rodolfo Haber + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s17050953

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Abstract

Nowadays many studies are being conducted to develop solutions for improving the performance of urban traffic networks. One of the main challenges is the necessary cooperation among different entities such as vehicles or infrastructure systems and how to exploit the information available through networks of sensors deployed as infrastructures for smart cities. In this work an algorithm for cooperative control of urban subsystems is proposed to provide a solution for mobility problems in cities. The interconnected traffic lights controller (TLC) network adapts traffic lights cycles, based on traffic and air pollution sensory information, in order to improve the performance of urban traffic networks. The presence of air pollution in cities is not only caused by road traffic but there are other pollution sources that contribute to increase or decrease the pollution level. Due to the distributed and heterogeneous nature of the different components involved, a system of systems engineering approach is applied to design a consensus-based control algorithm. The designed control strategy contains a consensus-based component that uses the information shared in the network for reaching a consensus in the state of TLC network components. Discrete event systems specification is applied for modelling and simulation. The proposed solution is assessed by simulation studies with very promising results to deal with simultaneous responses to both pollution levels and traffic flows in urban traffic networks.

Highlights

Nowadays, the challenge of making sustainable and environmentally friendly cities is driving the activities of many stakeholders such as local and national authorities, the private sector, environmental pressure groups, university research institutes, and neighborhood associations
In the control scheme suggested in this work, we focused on designing the adaptive component Δ for traffic lights cycles
In the control scheme suggested in this work, we focused on designing the adaptive component ∆u for traffic lights cycles U

Summary

Introduction

The challenge of making sustainable and environmentally friendly cities is driving the activities of many stakeholders such as local and national authorities, the private sector, environmental pressure groups, university research institutes, and neighborhood associations. They are jointly promoting system-of-systems-based solutions for smart cities [1,2,3]. From a physical and system engineering standpoint, a city or an urban region can be considered as a physical system composed of several coupled physical subsystems with thousands of networked sensors and actuators (e.g., transportation, energy distribution systems, water supply systems, etc.). The ability to anticipate and control daily situations (e.g., traffic congestion and high levels of pollution) and unexpected events (e.g., power failures, traffic accidents and exceptional climate conditions) is a key Sensors 2017, 17, 953; doi:10.3390/s17050953 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors

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