Integrated Longitudinal and Lateral Control for Autonomous Truck Platooning in Curved Scenarios with 5G-V2X Uncertainties

This paper presents a practical feedback control strategy for high-fidelity autonomous truck platooning, addressing the critical challenge of negotiating curved roads under 5G-V2X communication uncertainties. A nonlinear dynamic model is developed, integrating both longitudinal and lateral vehicle dynamics to simulate a five-truck platoon. The proposed hierarchical control architecture consists of two key components: (1) an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system for maintaining safe inter-vehicle distances using a PD controller, and (2) a path-following lateral controller that ensures accurate lane-keeping on curved sections by tracking a predefined road centerline profile. The 5G-V2X sensor uncertainty, a major source of measurement noise in vehicle-to-everytyhing communication, is modeled as additive Gaussian noise. Extensive simulations under a scenario involving a transition from a straight road to a constant-radius curve (R=500m) demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. Results indicate that the controller robustly maintains the platoon's string stability and safe spacing despite sensor noise and curved road dynamics. The study concludes that the integrated control strategy is vital for the safe and efficient deployment of autonomous truck platoons on real-world highways, which inherently consist of curved sections. The work provides valuable insights for automotive engineers in designing robust platooning systems.