Optimal coordinated control of a vehicular platoon by taking into account the individual vehicle dynamics

Abstract

In most of the previous studies about vehicular platooning control, the individual vehicle in a platoon is simply viewed as a lumped-mass point without considering the vehicle inherent dynamics. From this point, a novel optimal coordinated platooning control (OCPC) scheme is proposed in this work. In detail, not only the relative motions between adjacent vehicles but also the individual vehicle dynamics (wheel rotational dynamics) are taken into account. The OCPC controller is designed as a linear quadratic regulator to force the platooning following control and individual vehicle dynamics control automatically to reach a tradeoff. The string stability and scalability property of the platoon with the proposed OCPC scheme are analysed theoretically. Numerical simulations on a nonlinear six-vehicle platoon model have been conducted and superior platooning following performance can be achieved by the proposed control scheme in both high and low adhesion road conditions.