Distributed Control And Reorganization Of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoons Subject to Time Delay and Limited Communication Range

Abstract

Autonomous platoons have emerged as efficient alternatives for cargo transportation, and extensive research has been conducted to address safety and efficiency concerns. However, most existing literature assumes continuous connectivity among platoon vehicles, disregarding limited communication ranges and time-delay. In this paper, we focus on the challenge of maintaining connectivity and stability in platoons, even in the event of complete disconnection. Our objective is to enhance tolerance to various factors, including agent exits, external elements (e.g., traffic lights and human-driven vehicles), and non-ideal initial conditions, thereby improving traffic safety in mixed traffic scenarios. By treating the state alteration as a reference tracking problem, we propose a design procedure that ensures stability and zero spacing error in steady-state. Through agent-based and nonlinear simulations, we demonstrate the efficacy of our control protocol, allowing vehicles to achieve consensus with the platoon even when they start disconnected from others.