Simulation of Intelligent Convoy with Autonomous Articulated Commercial Vehicles

Intelligent convoy consisting of heavy duty vehicles is an implementation of IVHS believed to be one of the most practicable proposals to come into reality in the near feature. Control Strategy in the context of Autonomous Intelligent Vehicle Platoon is different from that in other “Lane-keeping” IVHS systems which have been well studied. In this paper, an Autonomous Platoon consisting two articulated commercial vehicles is studied and a model of tractor-trailer type commercial vehicles suitable for control studies is derived based on a single track three-axle bicycle model.

The authors give perspectives on the implementation of intelligent convoy of articulated vehicles emphasizing safety issues in emergency situations, as opposed to normal following of the lead vehicle. An initial integrated braking and steering control is developed to avoid spinout or jack-knifing when specific axles are locked during braking process. Simulation of emergency stop maneuvers has been conducted to show the model is capable of representing the dominant dynamic phenomena. It will therefore, be expanded and used in the future to develop realistic control laws and conduct control studies. Issues related to available measurement, integrated control design, and corresponding model modification to that used in current literature are discussed as well.