Abstract
In this paper a decentralized approach to the platooning problem with nonlinear spacing policies is considered. A predecessor–follower control structure is presented in which a vehicle is responsible for tracking of a desired spacing policy with respect to its predecessor, regardless of the control action of the latter. From the perspective of geometric control theory, we state necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of decentralized controllers that guarantee tracking and asymptotic stabilization of a general nonlinear spacing policy. Moreover, all nonlinear spacing policies for which there exists a decentralized state feedback controller that achieves asymptotic tracking are characterized. It is shown that string stability is a consequence of the choice of spacing policy and sufficient conditions for a spacing policy to imply string stability are given. As an example, we fully characterize all state feedback controllers that achieve the control goals for a given nonlinear spacing policy, guaranteeing asymptotic tracking for a heterogeneous platoon. The results are illustrated through simulations.
Highlights
Vehicle platooning amounts to the formation of closely-spaced groups of vehicles and has the potential to increase road safety, improve traffic flow, and reduce fuel consumption, see the overviews [1,2,3,4]
A key element in such control strategies for vehicle platooning is the specification of the desired distance between successive vehicles, known as the spacing policy
In this paper we considered nonlinear spacing policies for vehicle platoons, motivated by their potential in improving safety
Summary
Vehicle platooning amounts to the formation of closely-spaced groups of vehicles and has the potential to increase road safety, improve traffic flow, and reduce fuel consumption, see the overviews [1,2,3,4]. A key element in such control strategies for vehicle platooning is the specification of the desired distance between successive vehicles, known as the spacing policy. In this paper we focus on the design of vehicle controllers for nonlinear spacing policies to form a more general class of control strategies for platooning. For alternatives to linear spacing policies based on desired time delays between vehicles, see [20,21] Motivated by these potential advantages of nonlinear spacing policies in vehicle platooning, this paper considers the decentralized platoon control for general nonlinear spacing policies. Following an idea from [22], the follower vehicle is responsible for maintaining the desired spacing policy with respect to its predecessor, regardless of the control actions of this predecessor This robustness approach towards decentralized control allows for considering heterogeneous platoons.
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