Robust V2X Cruise Control for Class 8 Trucks in the Presence of Traffic Lights

An implementation of a robust predictive cruise control method for class 8 trucks utilizing V2X communication with connected traffic lights is presented in this work. This method accounts for traffic signal phases with the goal of reducing energy consumption while maintaining reasonable travel speed and respecting safety concerns. Tightened constraints are created using a robust model predictive control (RMPC) framework in which constraints are modified so that the safety critical requirements are satisfied even in the presence of disturbances, while requiring only the expected bounds of the disturbances to be provided. In particular, variation in the actuator performance under different conditions presents a unique challenge for this application, which the approach applied in this work is well-suited to handle. The errors resulting from lower-level control and actuator performance are accounted for by treating them as bounded and additive disturbances on the states of the model used in the higher level MPC, and the RMPC method is demonstrated to satisfy constraints in the presence of arbitrary bounded disturbances that can be modeled in this way. Simulation results show that these tightened constraints successfully account for error due to low-level control and actuator performance for class 8 trucks. Furthermore, tests were performed on hardware which show the capability for real-time application.