Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoons Research Articles

Ecological cooperative merging control of heterogeneous electric vehicle platoons.

Vehicle platooning improves energy savings via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control (Eco-CACC) is implemented in platoons for merging task by using regrouped platoon models. The merging positions are selected in the middle and tail of an original platoon with a two-vehicle sub-platoon. The distributed nonlinear model predictive controller based on signal temporal logic (DNMPC-STL) approach is developed to model the Eco-CACC merging strategy. The performance of the Eco-CACC merging strategy is modeled by objective control for a predecessor-leader following (PLF) topology. The results demonstrate that merging positions located in the tail exhibit superior performance and can be used to improve stability, tracking performance, energy consumption efficiency and SOC of battery.

Cloud-Edge Cooperative Distributed MPC With Event-Triggered Switching Strategy for Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon

Cloud-Edge Cooperative Distributed MPC With Event-Triggered Switching Strategy for Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon

ROBUST OUTPUT FEEDBACK CONTROL FOR HETEROGENEOUS AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE PLATOONS

An heterogeneous vehicle platoon controller for autonomous vehicles is proposed in this paper. The traction force of each vehicle is controlled according to the state of the predecessor vehicle, which can be known by LiDAR/RADAR, and the state of the leader vehicle, which is received by vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Platoon string stability is evaluated under Lyapunov and H8 conditions. An iterative procedure is proposed in order to deal with the non-convexity of the static output feedback control design problem. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed heterogeneous vehicle platoon controller achieves a good overall performance without compromising the safety of any vehicle. The separation between each follower and its predecessor is kept in appropriate ranges, always close to the desired reference. Furthermore, the transient errors are not amplificated when propagated downstream the platoon, therefore string stability is assured. Keywords: Autonomous vehicles, heterogeneous vehicle platoon, vehicle platoon control, string stability, output feedback control, robust control, Linear Matrix Inequality

Resilient Cruise Control of Heterogeneous Platoons Against Byzantine Attacks: Theory and Experiment.

This article studies the problem of the resilient cruise control in heterogeneous vehicle platoons against f -local Byzantine attacks (BAs). Agents under BAs become traitors of the swarm, who try to mislead its neighbors while adopting wrong inputs. Thus, BAs are extremely challenging to be suppressed. This study introduces a novel hierarchical protocol characterized by a virtual twin layer (TL), motivated by the rationale of digital twin. This protocol separates the defense scheme against f -local BAs into two parts: one defense scheme against Byzantine edge attacks (BEAs) via the TL and another scheme against Byzantine node attacks (BNAs) via the cyber-physical layer (CPL). The TL employs a trusted-edge strategy, enhancing the network resilience by incorporating a minimal fraction of the key edges. It is rigorously proven that a TL topology meeting strong (2f+1) -robustness is sufficient for achieving distributed resilient estimation against BEAs. On the CPL, a series of decentralized chattering-free controllers is proposed, guaranteeing the resilient cruise tracking of heterogeneous platoons against exponentially unbounded BNAs. Besides, these controllers can achieve uniformly ultimately bounded convergence. The theoretical results' effectiveness and practicality are validated through a numerical simulation example and an unmanned ground vehicle experiment involving heterogeneous platoons against f -local BAs.

Predictor and ESO-based adaptive tracking control of heterogeneous vehicle platoon

Predictor and ESO-based adaptive tracking control of heterogeneous vehicle platoon

Dynamic Negotiation-Based Distributed EMPC With Varying Consensus Speeds of Heterogeneous Electric Vehicle Platoons

Dynamic Negotiation-Based Distributed EMPC With Varying Consensus Speeds of Heterogeneous Electric Vehicle Platoons

Synchronization of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon Using Distributed PI Controller Designed Based on Cooperative Observer

Synchronization of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon Using Distributed PI Controller Designed Based on Cooperative Observer

Distributed Data-Driven Event-Triggered Fault-Tolerant Control for a Connected Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon With Sensor Faults

Distributed Data-Driven Event-Triggered Fault-Tolerant Control for a Connected Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon With Sensor Faults

Observer‐based output feedback event‐triggered robust control for heterogeneous vehicular platoon systems

AbstractIn this article, the problem of output feedback robust control for heterogeneous vehicle platoon system (HVPS) is investigated. A novel double‐channel event‐triggered mechanism is designed to reduce the waste of communication resources and unnecessary data transmissions. A neural network state observer is designed by intermittent output signal to estimate unmeasurable states. The prescribed performance function is used to establish a strong string stability condition. Combining backstepping recursive technique and prescribed performance function with its inverse transformation, observer‐based robust adaptive output feedback event‐triggered platoon controller is designed, which can ensure the individual stability, string stability, and strong string stability of HVPS. It is proved that all signals are bounded by Lyapunov stability analysis. Finally, the validity of the proposed results is proved by simulation.

Delay Compensation Control of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoons: A Principal-Agent Structure

Delay Compensation Control of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoons: A Principal-Agent Structure

Robust Adaptive Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon Control Based on Disturbances Estimation and Compensation

Robust Adaptive Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon Control Based on Disturbances Estimation and Compensation

Coalitional Control Strategy for a Heterogeneous Platoon Application

In this work, we propose a coalitional control solution for a multi-agent networked system. The idea is to use a flexible communication topology, in which the communication links are enabled or disabled between sub-systems, depending on their shared task. The control methodology is designed in an optimal control framework, by computing an optimal state feedback gain matrix corresponding to each communication topology. The proposed control algorithm was validated in simulation, and tested in real-time experiments using a heterogeneous vehicle platoon consisting of four mobile robots. Both simulation and experimental results illustrate the efficacy of our proposed methodology.

Collaborative adaptive cruise control and energy management strategy for extended-range electric logistics van platoon

This paper improves the economy of the extended-range electric logistics van (ERELV) platoon from two aspects of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) and energy management strategy (EMS). Based on the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, to improve the economy of heterogeneous vehicle platoon CACC system, a distributed model predictive controller (DMPC) with stability, comfort, and the economy as optimization goals are designed. The sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability of the vehicle platoon closed-loop system are obtained by Lyapunov stability analysis. The multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) algorithm is used to solve the EMS of the ERELV platoon. Under the framework of centralized training distributed execution (CTDE), the experience of all agents can be obtained during training, and the actions can be output only according to their local observation states during execution. The simulation results show that the designed ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control (Eco-CACC) effectively balances the stability and economy of a heterogeneous vehicle platoon. Taking dynamic programming (DP) as the benchmark, compared with the single-agent algorithm, EMS based on a multi-agent deep deterministic strategy gradient (MADDPG) algorithm can achieve a near-optimal solution while significantly improving the learning efficiency.

Adaptive Fuzzy Predefined-Time Control for Third-Order Heterogeneous Vehicular Platoon Systems With Dead Zone

This paper investigates the problem of fuzzy adaptive predefined-time terminal sliding mode (TSM) control for a third-order heterogeneous vehicular platoon system (HVPS) with an unknown dead-zone. For the purpose of approximating unknown nonlinear functions, fuzzy logic systems (FLSs) are utilized. Additionally, the impact of the dead-zone on the performance of the control may be lessened by building the dead-zone compensation. A tracking error based on the modified constant time headway (MCTH) policy is built to get rid of the assumption of zero initial spacing and decrease the distance between vehicles at the same time. A unique nonsingular TSM control system is then built using the predefined-time stability criterion, with the help of Lyapunov functions, it is possible to demonstrate both the individual and the string stability (SS) of the whole heterogeneous vehicle platoon in a predefined time. Finally, a series of simulations are shown to demonstrate the validity of the proposed results.

Distributed model predictive control for heterogeneous vehicle platoon with unknown input of leading vehicle

In this paper, a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) algorithm for a platoon of heterogeneous vehicles is proposed. The leading vehicle is allowed to be driven by a non-zero and time-varying input, rather than traveling at a constant velocity. Except for individual state and input constraints for each vehicle, all vehicles are coupled via state-coupled inter-vehicular spacing constraints and state-coupled cost functions, which maintain the unidimensional platoon formation with satisfactory transient performance. Each vehicle communicates with its neighboring vehicles, and may not know the leading vehicle’s kinetic status information. The control input of each following vehicle is computed by a local optimization problem established by each vehicle’s local information and the assumed state information from its neighbors. By designing distributed terminal control laws for following vehicles, dividing each state-coupled set into several specific subsets, and then forcing each following vehicle to optimize its state constrained in the assigned subsets, the coupled constraints and cost functions can be decoupled, and thus a distributed and parallel computing method can be adopted to compute the control inputs of all following vehicles. Based on the tailored terminal equality constraints together with the tailored terminal control laws, the recursive feasibility of local MPC optimization problems is achieved at all time steps and the asymptotic stability of each vehicle is also guaranteed. The effectiveness of the proposed DMPC method is demonstrated in simulation, and the advantage of the proposed DMPC dealing with the leading vehicle’s non-zero, inaccessible, and time-varying input is highlighted by a comparison simulation for heterogeneous vehicle platoon with a continuously changing leading vehicle velocity.

Distributed Data-Driven Control for a Connected Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon Under Quantized and Switching Topologies Communication

In this paper, a distributed data-driven control (DDC) method for a connected heterogeneous vehicle platoon under quantized and switching topologies communication is investigated. Firstly, based on the improved uniform quantizer and graph theory, the communication mode with quantized and switching topologies is designed. Then, a linearized dynamic data model named full-form dynamic linearization (FFDL) based on the input/output (I/O) data of the connected heterogeneous vehicle platoon is established, and a distributed data-driven control method is proposed. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed DDC method can achieve uniform bounded convergence of the formation error. Finally, two numerical simulations are given based on the vehicle linearized third-order model and the vehicle longitudinal nonlinear dynamics. The simulation results are compared and analyzed, verifying the proposed algorithm's effectiveness and practicality.

Distributed tube model predictive control for string stability of heterogeneous vehicle platoons

This article develops a distributed tube model predictive control method to guarantee the string stability of the heterogeneous vehicle platoon under external disturbance and controller saturation. The error model of each vehicle is proposed based on the desired distance and velocity, where the coupled factor between vehicles is treated as a random disturbance. The linear feedback controller is devised to reject disturbances by keeping the actual trajectory within a tube around the nominal trajectory, and a model predictive controller is proposed by treating the input saturation and string stability as state constraints in the optimization problem. Compared with previous results, the proposed control strategy achieves a better performance of disturbance rejection and greatly reduces the online computation burden, which would be more favorable in engineering applications. The method proposed in this article is illustrated to be effective by simulation.

Nonlinear Control of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon with Time-varying Delays and Limited Communication Range

Nonlinear Control of Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon with Time-varying Delays and Limited Communication Range

Distributed Model Predictive Control for Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoon With Inter-Vehicular Spacing Constraints

This paper proposes a distributed control scheme for a platoon of heterogeneous vehicles based on the mechanism of model predictive control (MPC). The platoon composes of a group of vehicles interacting with each other via inter-vehicular spacing constraints, to avoid collision and reduce communication latency, and aims to make multiple vehicles driving on the same lane safely with a close range and the same velocity. Each vehicle is subject to both state constraints and input constraints, communicates only with neighboring vehicles, and may not know a priori desired setpoint. We divide the computation of control inputs into several local optimization problems based on each vehicle’s local information. To compute the control input of each vehicle based on local information, a distributed computing method must be adopted and thus the coupled constraint is required to be decoupled. This is achieved by introducing the reference state trajectories from neighboring vehicles for each vehicle and by employing the interactive structure of computing local problems of vehicles with odd indices and even indices. It is shown that the feasibility of MPC optimization problems is achieved at all time steps based on tailored terminal inequality constraints, and the asymptotic stability of each vehicle to the desired trajectory is guaranteed even under a single iteration between vehicles at each time. Finally, a comparison simulation is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed distributed MPC method for heterogeneous vehicle control with respect to normal and extreme scenarios.

Situation-aware communication topologies in heterogeneous platooning scenarios

Communication-based controllers for platooning are often designed for a homogeneous vehicle composition in a normal driving situation. However, in realistic applications, platoons will consist of different vehicles types or brands and thus be heterogeneous, which increases the requirements for safe operation. In addition, controllers designed for the nominal driving situation are not necessarily able to handle disturbances, such as the cut-in of a foreign vehicle or an emergency braking of the entire platoon. The authors’ previous work has shown that for different driving situations (e.g. emergency braking or cut-in of a foreign vehicle) different communication topologies can be beneficial in order to control the platoon. In this paper, a concept for switching the communication topology depending on the current driving situation in a heterogeneous vehicle platoon is presented. The concept is applied for coordinated emergency braking, for the startup from standstill and for the cut-in of a foreign vehicle. For these situations, it is shown that varying the communication topology of an otherwise unchanged local controller can prevent collisions within the platoon. Furthermore, improvements can be achieved by considering the different vehicle types and their position in the vehicle string. For the example driving situations, it is shown how suitable communication topologies can be identified.