Browse Topic: Platooning

Items (167)

Reducing Power Consumption through Effective Data Sharing in Platooning Scenarios

2025-01-8051To be published on 04/01/2025

Platooning occurs when vehicles travel closely together to benefit from multi-vehicle movement, increased road capacity, and reduced fuel consumption. This study focused on reducing energy consumption under different driving scenarios and road conditions. To quantify the energy consumption, we first consider dynamic events that can affect driving, such as braking and sudden acceleration. In our experiments, we focused on modeling and analyzing the power consumption of autonomous platoons in a simulated environment, the main goal of which was to develop a clear understanding of the different driving and road factors influencing power consumption and to highlight key parameters. The key elements that influence the energy consumption can be identified by simulating multiple driving scenarios under different road conditions. The initial findings from the simulations suggest that by efficiently utilizing the inter-vehicle distances and keeping the vehicle movements concurrent, the power

Khalid, Muhammad Zaeem, Azim, Akramul, Rahman, Taufiq

Evaluation Method for the Impacts of Truck Platoons Lateral Control on Pavement Performance

2025-01-7152

02/21/2025

The introduction of autonomous truck platoons is expected to result in drastic changes in operational characteristics of freight shipments, which may in turn have significant impacts on efficiency, energy consumption, and infrastructure durability. Since the lateral positions of autonomous trucks traveling consecutively within a lane are fixed and similar (channelized traffic), such platooning operations are likely to accelerate damage accumulation within pavement structures. To further advance the application of truck platooning technology in various pavement environments, this study develops a flexible evaluation method to evaluate the impact of lateral arrangement within autonomous truck platoons on asphalt pavement performance. This method simplifies the impact of intermittent axle load applications along the driving direction within a platoon, supporting platoon controllers in directly evaluating pavement damage for different platoon configurations. Specifically, a truck platoon

Wenlu, Yu, Ye, Qin, Chen, Daoxie, Min, Yitong, Chen, Leilei

A Car-following Model Considering Acceleration of Multiple Vehicles for Mixed Traffic Flow

2025-01-7195

02/21/2025

The practice of vehicle platooning for managing mixed traffic can greatly enhance safety on the roads, augment overall traffic flow, and boost fuel efficiency, garnering considerable focus in transportation. Existing research on vehicle platoon control of mixed traffic has primarily focused on using the state information of the leading or head vehicle as control input for following vehicles without accounting for the driving variability of Human-driven Vehicles (HDVs), which does not conform to the driving conditions of vehicles in reality. Inspired by this, this paper presents a car-following model for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) that utilizes communication with multiple preceding vehicles in mixed traffic. The study further investigates the impact of parameters such as the speed and acceleration of preceding vehicles on the car-following behavior of CAVs, as well as the overall effect of different CAV penetration rates on mixed traffic flow. Firstly, a mixed-vehicle

Peng, Fuke, Huang, Xin

Research on Digital Twin Model Construction Method for Smart Highway

2025-01-7175

02/21/2025

To facilitate the construction of a robust transport infrastructure, it is essential to implement a digital transformation of the current highway system. The concept of digital twins, which are virtual replicas of physical assets, offers a novel approach to enhancing the operational efficiency and predictive maintenance capabilities of highway networks. The present study begins with an exhaustive examination of the demand for the smart highway digital twin model, underscoring the necessity for a comprehensive framework that addresses the multifaceted aspects of digital transformation. The framework, as proposed, is composed of six integral components: spatiotemporal data acquisition and processing, multidimensional model development, model integration, application layer construction, model iteration, and model governance. Each element is critical in ensuring the fidelity and utility of the digital twin, which must accurately reflect the dynamic nature of highway systems. The

Zhang, Yawen, Cai, Xianhua

Next-gen Urban Buses: Autonomy and Connectivity

EPR2024019

08/26/2024

The deployment of autonomous urban buses brings with it the hope of addressing concerns associated with safety and aging drivers. However, issues related autonomous vehicle (AV) positioning and interactions with road users pose challenges to realizing these benefits. This report covers unsettled issues and potential solutions related to the operation of autonomous urban buses, including the crucial need for all-weather localization capabilities to ensure reliable navigation in diverse environmental conditions. Additionally, minimizing the gap between AVs and platforms during designated parking requires precise localization. Next-gen Urban Buses: Autonomy and Connectivity addresses the challenge of predicting the intentions of pedestrians, vehicles, and obstacles for appropriate responses, the detection of traffic police gestures to ensure compliance with traffic signals, and the optimization of traffic performance through urban platooning—including the need for advanced communication

Hsu, Tsung-Ming

Platooning of Position-Controlled Vehicles on a Curved Path under Communication Losses and Delays

12-07-04-0028

08/21/2024

This article offers an algorithmic solution for moving a homogeneous platoon of position-controlled vehicles on a curved path with varying speeds and in the presence of communication losses and delays. This article considers a trajectory-based platooning with the leader–following communication topology, where the lead vehicle communicates its reference position and orientation to each autonomous follower vehicle. A follower vehicle stores this communicated information for a specific period as a virtual trail of the lead vehicle starting from the lead vehicle’s initial position and orientation. An algorithm uses this trail to find the follower vehicle’s reference position and orientation on that trail, such that the follower vehicle maintains a constant distance from the lead vehicle. The proposed algorithm helps form a platoon where each vehicle can traverse a curve with varying speeds. In contrast, in the existing literature, most of the solutions for vehicle platooning on a curved

Bhaskar, Rintu, Wahi, Pankaj, Potluri, Ramprasad

Lateral Platooning Control with Precise Path Tracking and Strong Disturbance Suppression Performance

2024-01-5074

07/24/2024

There have been numerous studies on stable platooning, but almost all of them have been on the longitudinal stability problem, wherein, without sufficient longitudinal stability, traffic congestion might occur more frequently than in traffic consisting of manually driven vehicles. Failure to solve this problem would reduce the value of autonomous driving. Recently, some researchers have begun to tackle the lateral stability problem, anticipating shortened intervehicle distances in the future. Here, the intervehicle distance in a platoon should be shortened to improve transportation efficiency. However, if an obstacle to be avoided exists, the following vehicles might have difficulty finding it quickly enough if the preceding vehicle occludes it from their sensors. Also, longer platoons improve transportation efficiency because the number of gaps between platoons is reduced. Hence, in this study, the lateral stability of platoons consisting of autonomous vehicles was analyzed for not

Kurishige, Masahiko

Lane-Changing Behavior’s Impact on Platoon Dispersion in Mixed Autonomous Vehicle Traffic: Insights from Simulation

12-08-02-0013

07/01/2024

This research investigates platoon dispersion characteristics in mixed-traffic flow of autonomous and human-driven vehicles. It presents a cellular automata-based platoon dispersion model. The study’s key findings are as follows: platoon dispersion initially increases and then decreases with the rise in autonomous vehicle proportions. When the autonomous vehicle proportion is approaching 100%, platoon dispersion descends rapidly and is completely eliminated while the proportion is 100%. Compared to platoon consisting entirely of human-driven vehicles, the peak value of standard deviation of vehicle speed is 1.71 times and the travel time drops by 38.19% when the proportion is 1. Moreover, the lane-changing behavior enhances platoon speed, acceleration, and space utilization at micro- and macrolevels by optimizing space resource allocation within the platoon. The study employs a two-lane mixed-flow platoon dispersion model that assumes uniform vehicle characteristics and prioritizes

Lu, Ting, Liu, Chenghao, Lin, Sitong, Song, Wenjing

Developing Fuel Savings Performance Function Considering Various Truck Platooning Configurations

04-17-03-0018

06/29/2024

Truck platooning facilitates the operation of trucks in close proximity to one another, resulting in decreased air resistance and improved fuel efficiency. While previous research has mostly focused on the effects of intra-distance on fuel savings, this study aims to develop fuel savings performance functions considering various truck platooning configurations. This article comprehensively investigates the influence of different truck platoon configurations on fuel savings. This analysis focuses on examining the impacts of several variables including inter-vehicle distance, platoon speed, truck weight, number of trucks in the platoon, and the truck’s distinctive design characteristics. Data used in the analysis were collected from 10 different field experiments. Three machine learning techniques—artificial neural networks (ANN), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN)—alongside the negative binomial regression model were employed. Upon evaluation, the

Mohamed, Mohamed, Hassan, Hany M.

A Drag-Reduction Prediction Model for Truck Platoons

2024-01-2548

04/09/2024

Truck platooning is an emerging technology that exploits the drag reduction experienced by bluff bodies moving together in close longitudinal proximity. The drag-reduction phenomenon is produced via two mechanisms: wake-effect drag reduction from leading vehicles, whereby a following vehicle operates in a region of lower apparent wind speed, thus reducing its drag; and base-drag reduction from following vehicles, whereby the high-pressure field forward of a closely-following vehicle will increase the base pressure of a leading vehicle, thus reducing its drag. This paper presents a physics-guided empirical model for calculating the drag-reduction benefits from truck platooning. The model provides a general framework from which the drag reduction of any vehicle in a heterogeneous truck platoon can be calculated, based on its isolated-vehicle drag-coefficient performance and limited geometric considerations. The model is adapted from others that predict the influence of inter-vehicle

McAuliffe, Brian

Expanding the Use of Vehicle Specific Power in Analysis of Platoon Performance

2024-01-2057

04/09/2024

Platooning is a coordinated driving strategy by which following trucks are placed into the wake of leading vehicles. Doing this leads to two primary benefits. First, the vehicles following are shielded from aerodynamic drag by a “pulling” effect. Secondly, by placing vehicles behind the leading truck, the leading vehicles experience a “pushing” effect. The reduction in aerodynamic drag leads to reduced fuel usage and, consequently, reduced greenhouse gas emissions. To maximize these effects, the inter-vehicle distance, or headway, needs to be minimized. In current platooning strategy iterations, Coordinated Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) is used to maintain close following distances. Many of these strategies utilize the fuel rate signal as a controller cost function parameter. By using fuel rate, current control strategies have limited applicability to non-conventional powertrains. Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) has shown promise as a metric by which the performance of such controllers

Bentley, John, Stegner, Evan, Bevly, David M., Hoffman, Mark

Biosignal-Based Driving Experience Analysis between Automated Mode and Manual Mode

2024-01-2504

04/09/2024

With the rapid development of intelligent driving technology, there has been a growing interest in the driving comfort of automated vehicles. As vehicles become more automated, the role of the driver shifts from actively engaging in driving tasks to that of a passenger. Consequently, the study of the passenger experience in automated driving vehicles has emerged as a significant research area. In order to examine the impact of automatic driving on passengers' riding experience in vehicle platooning scenarios, this study conducted real vehicle experiments involving six participants. The study assessed the subjective perception scores, eye movement, and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals of passengers seated in the front passenger seat under various vehicle speeds, distances, and driving modes. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that vehicle speed has the most substantial influence on passenger perception. The driving mode has a minor effect on the passenger riding experience

Hu, Hongyu, Zhang, Guojuan, Cheng, Ming, Li, Zhengyi, He, Lei, Su, Lili

TD3 Tuned PID Controller for Autonomous Vehicle Platooning

2023-01-7108

12/31/2023

The main objective of platoon control is coordinated motion of autonomous vehicle platooning with small intervehicle spacing while maintaining the same speed and acceleration as the leading vehicle, which can save energy consumption and improve traffic throughput. The conventional platoon control methods are confronted with the problem of manual parameter tuning. In order to addres this isue, a novel bifold platoon control approach leveraging a deep reinforcement learning-based model is proposed, which enables the platoon adapt to the complex traffic environment, and guarantees the safety of platoon. The upper layer controller based on the TD3 tuned PID algorithm outputs the desired acceleration. This integration mitigates the inconvenience of frequent manual parameter tuning asociated with the conventional PID algorithm. The lower layer controller tracks the desired acceleration based on the inverse vehicle dynamics model and feedback control. Through this dynamic inverse model, the

Chen, Xinhai, Wang, Rukang, Cui, Yanan, Jin, Xiaoxin, Feng, Chengjun, Xie, Bo, Deng, Zejian, Chu, Duanfeng

Cooperative Lane Change Control Based on Null-Space-Behavior for a Dual-Column Intelligent Vehicle Platoon

2023-01-7064

12/20/2023

With the extension of intelligent vehicles from individual intelligence to group intelligence, intelligent vehicle platoons on intercity highways are important for saving transportation costs, improving transportation efficiency and road utilization, ensuring traffic safety, and utilizing local traffic intelligence [1]. However, there are several problems associated with vehicle platoons including complicated vehicle driving conditions in or between platoon columns, a high degree of mutual influence, dynamic optimization of the platoon, and difficulty in the cooperative control of lane change. Aiming at the dual-column intelligent vehicle platoon control (where “dual-column” refers to the vehicle platoon driving mode formed by multiple vehicles traveling in parallel on two adjacent lanes), a multi-agent model as well as a cooperative control method for lane change based on null space behavior (NSB) for unmanned platoon vehicles are established in this paper. Specifically, a multi-agent

Yan, Danshu, Zhao, Zhiguo, Liang, Kaichong, Yu, Qin

Performance Analysis of Cooperative Truck Platooning under Commercial Operation during Canadian Winter Season

12-07-02-0012

11/14/2023

The cooperative platoon of multiple trucks with definite proximity has the potential to enhance traffic safety, improve roadway capacity, and reduce fuel consumption of the platoon. To investigate the truck platooning performance in a real-world environment, two Peterbilt class-8 trucks equipped with cooperative truck platooning systems (CTPS) were deployed to conduct the first-of-its-kind on-road commercial trial in Canada. A total of 41 CTPS trips were carried out on Alberta Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton during the winter season in 2022, 25 of which were platooning trips with 3 to 5 sec time gaps. The platooning trips were performed at ambient temperatures from −24 to 8°C, and the total truck weights ranged from 16 to 39 tons. The experimental results show that the average time gap error was 0.8 sec for all the platooning trips, and the trips with the commanded time gap of 5 sec generally had the highest variations. The average number of disengagements increased when the

Jiang, Luo, Kheyrollahi, Javad, Koch, Charles Robert, Shahbakhti, Mahdi

Performance Requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and Platooning™ ASN File

J2945/6A_202310 (Current)10/26/2023

This Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) file precisely specifies the structure of the data used to support the implementation of SAE International Standard 2945/6. Using the ASN.1 specification, a compiler tool can be used to produce encodings as required by the encoding rules identified in the standard. Both this file and the SAE J2735 ASN.1 files are necessary to collectively implement the data exchange described in the J2945/6. The combined library can be used by any application (along with the additional logic of the application) to exchange the data over an interface conformant to J2945/6. SAE J2945/6 specifies the interface and requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and Platooning. It provides the information necessary to build interoperable systems that support CACC, which rely on the exchange of Cooperative Control Messages. You may also be interested in: Performance Requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and Platooning™ the J2945/6 PDF

V2X Vehicular Applications Technical Committee

Performance Requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and Platooning™ SET File

J2945/6S_202310 (Current)10/26/2023

V2X Vehicular Applications Technical Committee

Performance Requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and Platooning

J2945/6_202310 (Current)10/26/2023

This standard provides the guideline for enhancements to adaptive cruise control (ACC) by the addition of wireless communication from relevant vehicles (V2V) and/or the infrastructure (I2V) to augment the ACC active sensing capability. The CACC system operates under driver responsibility and supervision and is limited to the following: Does only longitudinal control of the vehicle. Uses time gap control strategy similar to ACC. Motor vehicles covered in the scope of this document include light and heavy vehicles. The message elements to realize CACC and platooning are part of the scope. The initial release covers definitions for CACC and platooning and requirements for CACC, while a subsequent release will cover the platooning requirements.

V2X Vehicular Applications Technical Committee

Reference Generator for a Platoon of Position-Controlled Vehicles on a Curved Path

12-07-02-0009

10/06/2023

Vehicular automation in the form of a connected and automated vehicle platoon is demanding as it aims to increase traffic flow and driver safety. Controlling a vehicle platoon on a curved path is challenging, and most solutions in the existing literature demonstrate platooning on a straight path or curved paths at constant speeds. This article proposes an algorithmic solution with leader-following (LF) communication topology and constant distance (CD) spacing for platooning homogeneous position-controlled vehicles (PCVs) on a curved path, with each vehicle capable of cornering at variable speeds. The lead vehicle communicates its reference position and orientation to all the follower vehicles. A follower vehicle stores this information as a virtual trail of the lead vehicle for a specific period. An algorithm uses this trail to find the follower vehicle’s reference path by solving an optimization problem. This algorithm is feasible and maintains a constant inter-vehicle distance. The

Bhaskar, Rintu, Potluri, Ramprasad, Wahi, Pankaj

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF DATA UNCERTAINTIES IN AUTONOMOUS GROUND VEHICLE PLATOONING

2024-01-4025

08/10/2023

ABSTRACT To improve robustness of autonomous vehicles, deployments have evolved from a single intelligent system to a combination of several within a platoon. Platooning vehicles move together as a unit, communicating with each other to navigate the changing environment safely. While the technology is robust, there is a large dependence on data collection and communication. Issues with sensors or communication systems can cause significant problems for the system. There are several uncertainties that impact a system’s fidelity. Small errors in data accuracy can lead to system failure under certain circumstances. We define stale data as a perturbation within a system that causes it to repetitively rely on old data from external data sources (e.g. other cars in the platoon). This paper conducts a fault injection campaign to analyze the impact of stale data in a platooning model, where stale data occurs in the car’s communication and/or perception system. The fault injection campaign

Louis, August St., Calhoun, Jon C.

The Use and Benefits of Modeling and Simulation with Autonomous Vehicles

2024-01-4106

08/10/2023

Traditional live testing of autonomous ground vehicles can be augmented through use of digital twins of the test environment, the vehicle mobility models, and the vehicle sensors. These digital twins combined with the autonomous software under test allow testers to inject faults, weather, obstacles, find edge case scenarios, and collect information to understand the decision making of the autonomous software under test. With this new capability, autonomous ground vehicles can now be tested in four stages. The first stage is testing the autonomous software using digital twins. In this stage with the help of a High-Performance Computer thousands of scenarios can be run. Once issues are communicated and addressed, stage two, hardware in the loop testing can begin. Hardware in the loop uses simulators that already exist to test systems such as autonomous convoys with a virtual leader and a live follower. Stage three employs a live virtual constructive approach by using one vehicle to test

Whitt, John M., Bounker, Paul J.

Effect of Platoon Configurations on the Anti-Disturbing Performance

12-07-01-0003

08/10/2023

In order to promote the actual application of the vehicular platoon, this study investigates the effect of the specific platoon configurations including predecessor following (PF), predecessor–leader following (PLF), and bidirectional following (BD), on the anti-disturbing performance from the linear to nonlinear perspective. First, based on the method of sensitivity of error propagation to the disturbance, a linear platoon model is established by considering an individual vehicle as a lumped-mass point. Then, the transfer function matrix from disturbance to spacing error is derived for sensitivity analysis. Finally, especially considering the inherent vehicle dynamics, the Burckhardt tire force model is adopted to construct a nonlinear platoon dynamics model for the nonlinear dynamics analysis. The results reveal the characteristics of each platoon configuration, as well as the design of control gains in terms of the anti-disturbing performance. The nonlinear dynamics property in high

Wu, Xiangji, Yang, Xiujian, Zhang, Shengbin, Wang, Shenyi

Prediction and Control of Connected Mixed Traffic under Different Information Flow Topologies

12-07-01-0001

07/28/2023

Different platoon controls of connected automated vehicles have been studied to improve the entire fleet’s overall energy efficiency and driving safety. The platoons can be used during highway cruising to reduce unnecessary braking, shorten required headway, and thus improve traffic capacity and fuel economy. They can also be used in urban driving to improve traffic efficiency at intersections. However, there remain two problems that prevent the technology from achieving maximum benefit. First, the presence of human-driven vehicles will change the behavior of the fleet and platoon control of connected mixed traffic. Second, the communication uncertainties impose negative impacts on the dynamics of the platoon. A high-performance state predictor for surrounding vehicles can reduce the human-driven vehicle’s influence and help handle communication uncertainties better. This article proposes a novel inverse model predictive control (IMPC)-based approach to capture and predict longitudinal

Guo, Longxiang, Jia, Yunyi

New Controller Evaluation Techniques for Autonomously Driven Heavy-Duty Convoys

2023-01-0688

04/11/2023

Platooning vehicles present novel pathways to saving fuel during transportation. With the rise of autonomous solutions, platooning becomes an increasingly apparent sector requiring the application of this new technology. Platooning vehicles travel together intending to reduce aerodynamic resistance during operation. Drafting allows following vehicles to increase fuel economy and save money on refueling, whether that be at the pump or at a charging station. However, autonomous solutions are still in infancy, and controller evaluation is an exciting challenge proposed to researchers. This work brings forth a new application of an emissions quantification metric called vehicle-specific power (VSP). Rather than utilize its emissions investigative benefits, the present work applies VSP to heterogeneous Class 8 Heavy-Duty truck platoons as a means of evaluating the efficacy of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC). VSP creates a bridge between types of passenger vehicles to compare

Snitzer, Philip, Stegner, Evan, Bentley, John, Bevly, David M., Hoffman, Mark

Development of Truck Platooning System Including Emergency Braking Function with Vehicle-in-the-Loop (VIL) Testing

2023-01-0571

04/11/2023

Platoon is a system that connects vehicles through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology to maintain a short distance between vehicles while driving on the road. To improve fuel efficiency, many automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are interested in developing and demonstrating real-world platoon system. However, it is hard for heavy duty trucks to develop this system due to the difficulty of maintaining the targeted intervehicle distance not only for fuel efficiency but also for safety in case of emergency braking. Because of this critical safety issue in the emergency situation, the platoon system for heavy duty trucks can be hardly demonstrated or tested in real vehicle environment. The relatively complex system and the slow response characteristic of commercial vehicles makes this even more difficult. In this paper, focusing on the emergency braking function implemented through the V2V communication interface, we introduce the platoon system developed by

Hong, Jeong-Ki, Kim, Sangjun, Lim, Jong Su, Nam, Joohan, Min, Byeonghyeok, Lee, Chanhwa

Comparing the Performance of Different Heavy Duty Platooning Control Strategies

2023-01-0895

04/11/2023

Platooning is a promising technology which can mitigate greenhouse gas impacts and reduce transportation energy consumption. Platooning is a coordinated driving strategy where trucks align themselves in order to realize aerodynamic benefits to reduce required motive force. The aerodynamic benefit is seen as either a “pull” effect experienced by the following vehicles or a “push” effect experienced by the leader. The energy savings magnitude increases nonlinearly as headway (following distance) is reduced [1]. In efforts to maximize energy savings, cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) is utilized to maintain relatively short headways. However, when platooning is attempted in the real world, small transient accelerations caused by imperfect control result in observed energy savings being less than expected values. This study analyzes the performance of a recently developed nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) platooning strategy over challenging terrain. The NMPC strategy is

Bentley, John William, Snitzer, Philip, Stegner, Evan, Bevly, David M., Hoffman, Mark

Quantifying the Energy Impact of Autonomous Platooning-Imposed Longitudinal Dynamics

2023-01-0896

04/11/2023

Platooning has produced significant energy savings for vehicles in a controlled environment. However, the impact of real-world disturbances, such as grade and interactions with passenger vehicles, has not been sufficiently characterized. Follower vehicles in a platoon operate with both different aerodynamic drag and different velocity traces than while driving alone. While aerodynamic drag reduction usually dominates the change in energy consumption for platooning vehicles, the dynamics imposed on the follow vehicle by the lead vehicle and exogenous disturbances impacting the platoon can negate aerodynamic energy savings. In this paper, a methodology is proposed to link the change in longitudinal platooning dynamics with the energy consumption of a platoon follower in real time. This is accomplished by subtracting a predicted acceleration from measured longitudinal acceleration. The real-time consumption calculation methodology is evaluated using data from simulated and experimental

Stegner, Evan, Snitzer, Philip, Bentley, John, Bevly, David M., Hoffman, Mark

Simulating Traffic-wake Effects in a Wind Tunnel

2023-01-0950

04/11/2023

Road-vehicle platooning is known to reduced aerodynamic drag. Recent aerodynamic-platooning investigations have suggested that follower-vehicle drag-reduction benefits persist to large, safe inter-vehicle driving distances experienced in everyday traffic. To investigate these traffic-wake effects, a wind-tunnel wake-generator system was designed and used for aerodynamic-performance testing with light-duty-vehicle (LDV) and heavy-duty-vehicle (HDV) models. This paper summarizes the development of this Road Traffic and Turbulence System (RT2S), including the identification of typical traffic-spacing conditions, and documents initial results from its use with road-vehicle models. Analysis of highway-traffic-volume data revealed that, in an uncongested urban-highway environment, the most-likely condition is a speed of 105 km/h with an inter-vehicle spacing of about 50 m. Probability distributions for spacing and road speed were used to identify a range of suitable inter-vehicle spacings to

McAuliffe, Brian, Barber, Hali

Effects of Vehicle Numbers and Vehicle Types on Drag Reduction of Platoons with Different Front-Edge Radius

2023-01-0951

04/11/2023

The platoon of intelligent vehicles can significantly reduce the aerodynamic drag, which has broad development prospects. This research numerically studies the effect of Reynolds number (Re = 3.32×105 to 19.94×105), the vehicle numbers (3-, 5-, 8-vehicle), and vehicle types (fastback, notchback, and squareback) on the platoon drag reduction with three different front-edge radius (R*=R/W×100 = 9.36, 4.68 and 2.34). The results show that when the Reynolds number is greater than 9.97×105, the drag coefficient ratio CD/CDi (CDi is the drag coefficient of the isolated vehicle) of each vehicle in the platoon is less affected by the Reynolds number. When R*=9.36, the averaged CD/CDi of the fastback platoon (even above 1) is higher than that of both the notchback platoon and the squareback platoon without front-edge separation at the leading vehicle due to the weakest shielding effect on the following car resulting from the prominent downwash wake. Compared with R*=9.36, when the flow

Wang, Dehua, Xia, Chao, Jia, Qing, Yang, Zhigang

Robust Trajectory Tracking Control for Intelligent Connected Vehicle Swarm System

2022-01-7083

12/22/2022

An intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) swarm system that includes N vehicles is considered. Based on the special properties of potential functions, a kinematic model describing the swarm performances is proposed, which allows all vehicles to enclose the tracking target and show both tracking and formation characteristics. Treating the performances as the desired constraints, the analytical form of constraint forces can be obtained inspired by the Udwadia-Kalaba approaches. A special approach of uncertainty decomposition to deal with uncertain interferences is proposed, and a switching-type robust control method is addressed for each vehicle agent in the swarm system. The features and validity of the addressed control are demonstrated in the numerical simulations.

Cui, Zhengrong, Zhao, Xiaomin, Huang, Jin, Chen, Ye-hwa

Collaborative Control for Intelligent Motorcade Systems: State Transformation, Adaptive Robustness and Stability

2022-01-706912/22/2022

The intelligent unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) motorcade system consisting of one leader and n − 1 followers is considered. The safety distance between the front and rear UGVs is treated as the control target. Since the safety distance constraint is a unilateral constraint, the state transformation is needed. Hence, a piecewise type conversion function is formulated to serve for the transformation of the original inequality constraint. The system equation is further expressed by the new state. We assume that the input of the leading UGV is known. Combined with the uncertainty evaluation, a class of collaborative controls for the following UGVs is proposed to deal with the uncertainty with unknown bound. The effectiveness of the designed control is verified by both Lyapunov stability theory and simulations. Both theoretical and simulation results illustrate that the longitudinal safety, stability and global behavior of the intelligent motorcade system are guaranteed.

Zhao, Xiaomin, Lin, Yuming, Wang, Teng, Huang, Jin, Dong, Fangfang

A Hierarchical Model Predictive Control Based Connected Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle Energy Management Considering Speed Planning

2022-01-7064

10/28/2022

In the context of global warming and energy shortage crisis, how to deal with vehicle speed planning and energy management strategies using intelligent connected information is one of the most significant ways to improve traffic efficiency and vehicle fuel economy. In this paper, a hierarchical model predictive control algorithm based on the connected environment is designed for the study of series hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The higher level and the lower level controller share information with each other and solve two different problems aiming at improving its fuel efficiency. V2X (Vehicle to Everything) information is used as an input for the high-level controller to establish a model predictive framework to plan the future speed and improve its stability of the whole vehicle platoon. The low-level MPC provides a real-time HEV energy management strategy. The result shows that our hierarchical algorithm can achieve the vehicle platoon follow-up control while maintaining the fuel

Tan, Senlin, Lin, Yuqiang, Hu, Bo, Chen, Jiahui

Safety Spacing Control of Truck Platoon Based on Emergency Braking under Different Road Conditions

10-07-01-0005

10/13/2022

Vehicle platooning reduces fuel consumption, improves traffic throughput, and achieves smaller intervehicle spacing which increases the probability of danger during platoon braking. This article presents a sliding mode control based on the safety spacing policy for longitudinal control of a connected truck platoon with a focus on the predecessor following interactions. In particular, the modified safety spacing policy considering the intervehicle braking information communication delay, the sluggish nature of the brake actuator, the road conditions on each vehicle as well as the vehicle motion state is proposed. On this basis, an acceleration sliding mode controller is proposed, which takes into consideration the spacing error and speed error of the intervehicle, and the control error is zero, so as to obtain the expected acceleration of each vehicle in the platoon. Simulation results of truck platooning with six trucks using TurckSim have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed

Zhao, Qian, Zheng, Hongyu, Kaku, Chuyo, Cheng, Feihao, Zong, Changfu

Influence of Yaw and Lateral Offset on the Aerodynamics of a Two-Truck Platoon

02-16-02-0010

10/11/2022

Governmental regulations and customer demand for more energy-efficient vehicles are driving the development of new solutions in the automotive sector. One way of improving energy efficiency is by reducing the aerodynamic drag. A possible solution to achieve this is the concept of vehicles driving in close proximity, which is now becoming feasible considering the advances in vehicle automation and communication. This study focuses on the behavior of aerodynamic forces and flow effects in a two-truck platoon when more realistic road conditions, such as lateral offset and yaw, are present. The study is primarily numerical, but the results are validated against an experimental campaign conducted earlier by the authors. The main findings are that the drag of the leading truck is mostly governed by the base pressure of its trailer and that the truck sees only minor changes when a lateral offset is added, except at very short intervehicle distances. For larger yaw angles, the leading truck

Törnell, Johannes, Sebben, Simone, Elofsson, Per

RPV DETERMINATION FOR HEAVY TRUCK PLATOONING APPLICATIONS USING IR AND RGB MONOCULAR CAMERA

2024-01-3996

08/10/2022

ABSTRACT Many significant advances have been made in autonomous vehicle technology over the recent decades. This includes platooning of heavy trucks. As such, many institutions have created their own version of the basic platooning platform. This includes the California PATH program [1], Japan’s “Energy ITS” project [2], and Auburn University’sCACC Platform [3]. One thing these platforms have in common is a strong dependence on GPS based localization solutions. Issues arise when the platoon navigates into challenging environments, including rural areas with foliage which might block receptions, or more populated areas which might present urban canyon effects. Recent research focus has shifted to handling these situations through the use of alternative sensors, including cameras. The perception method proposed in this paper utilizes the You Only Look Once (YOLO) real-time object detection algorithm in order to bound the lead vehicle using both RGB and IR cameras. Range and bearing are

Flegel, Tyler, Chen, Howard, Bevly, David

GPS-INDEPENDENT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE CONVOYING WITH UWB RANGING AND VEHICLE MODELS

2024-01-4000

08/10/2022

ABSTRACT Leader-follower autonomous vehicle systems have a vast range of applications which can increase efficiency, reliability, and safety by only requiring one manned-vehicle to lead a fleet of unmanned followers. The proper estimation and duplication of a manned-vehicle’s path is a critical component of the ongoing development of convoying systems. Auburn University’s GAVLAB has developed a UWB-ranging based leader-follower GNC system which does not require an external GPS reference or communication between the vehicles in the convoy. Experimental results have shown path-duplication accuracy between 1-5 meters for following distances of 10 to 50 meters. Citation: K. Thompson, B. Jones, S. Martin, and D. Bevly, “GPS-Independent Autonomous Vehicle Convoying with UWB Ranging and Vehicle Models,” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 16-18, 2022.

Thompson, Kyle, Jones, Ben, Martin, Scott, Bevly, David

EDITORIAL: Platooning still promising for trucking

22TOFHP08_04

08/01/2022

There is “no business case” for platooning, or the electronic coupling of two or more trucks in close formation. That was the assessment of Daimler Trucks in 2019 when it decided to pause its years-long platooning development activities. The OEM determined that for U.S. long-distance applications, where conditions were expected to be ideal, the fuel savings were less than stellar and diminished further when the platoon got “disconnected” and trucks had to accelerate to reconnect. Instead, the company turned its full attention to developing highly automated (SAE Level 4) trucks. The fate of Peloton Technology, a company all-in on platooning but that ceased operations in 2021, is another indicator that perhaps platooning's promise has faded.

Gehm, Ryan

Anticipation-Based Autonomous Platoon Control Strategy with Minimum Parameter Learning Adaptive Radial Basis Function Neural Network Sliding Mode Control

10-06-03-0017

04/25/2022

This article investigates the headway and optimal velocity tracking of autonomous vehicles (AVs), considering their predictive driving for the stability and integrity of spatial vehicle formation in the platoon. First, the human-like anticipation car-following model is used for modeling the autonomous system. Second, an adaptive radial basis function neural network (ARBF-NN)-based sliding mode control (SMC) is proposed for the control purpose. The control objective is to regulate traffic perturbation during entire road operations. To enable the controller to experience less computational burden and adaptation complexity, a minimum parameter learning (MPL) has also been integrated with ARBF-NN-based SMC. Third, an illustrative simulation example has been performed for two scenarios, i.e., constant headway and time-varying headway of vehicles. A performance comparison between the proposed controller and the conventional SMC was conducted, and controller parameter sensitivity was also

Negash, Natnael M., Yang, James

An Investigation of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Three Bluff Bodies in Close Longitudinal Proximity - Part 3: Influence on Lift

2022-01-0904

03/29/2022

The aerodynamic effects of bodies in close proximity continues to be an interest for those involved in aeronautical, automotive and civil engineering together with those involved in sports such as cycling, motor racing and sailing. For passenger cars, research in the USA published in the 1980s had considered travelling in close proximity, termed “platooning”, as a means for reducing congestion. But the aerodynamic drag reduction and fuel-savings found in associated wind tunnel tests and road-trials became the focus of further investigations. Although practical applications were not originally pursued, the recent development of control systems for connected and autonomous vehicles has provided the opportunity for platooning to be considered again within future traffic management systems. Thus while the focus of automotive work to date has been the potential for the reduction in total aerodynamic drag, the associated changes in aerodynamic lift which might influence the characteristics

Le Good, Geoffrey, Boardman, Peter, Self, Matthew, Resnick, Max, Cirstea, Remus

Experimentally Establishing Ideal Platooning Performance as a Metric for Real-World Platooning Assessment

2022-01-0069

03/29/2022

Platooning heavy-duty trucks decreases aerodynamic drag for following trucks, reducing energy consumption, and increasing both range and mileage. Previous platooning experimentation has demonstrated fuel economy benefits in two-, three-, and four-truck configurations. However, exogenous variables disturb the ability of these platoons to maintain the desired formation, causing an accordion effect within the platoon and reducing energy benefits via acceleration/deceleration events. This phenomenon is increasingly exacerbated as platoon size and road grade variations increase. The current work assesses how platoon size, road curvature, and road grade influence platoon energy efficiency. Fuel consumption rate is experimentally quantified for four heterogeneous Class 8 vehicles operating in standalone (baseline), two-, and four-truck platooning configurations to assess fuel consumption changes while driving through diverse road conditions. Platooning was accomplished via PID-based

Snitzer, Philip, Stegner, Evan, Siefert, Jan, Bevly, David M., Hoffman, Mark

New Metrics for Quantifying the Energy Efficiency of Platoons in the Presence of Disturbances

2022-01-0526

03/29/2022

Due to aerodynamic drag reduction, vehicles may have significant energy savings while platooning in close succession. However, when circumstances force active deceleration to maintain the platoon, such as during vehicle cut-ins or grade changes, the aerodynamic efficiency benefits may be undermined by losses in kinetic energy. In this work, a theoretical relationship is derived to correlate the amount of active deceleration a vehicle experiences with energy efficiency. The derived relationship is leveraged to analyze platooning data from the last vehicle in a class 8 vehicle platoon. The data include both two- and four-truck platoons operating under nine different truck-to-truck gap control strategies. Using J1939 CAN data and GPS-estimated grade profiles, off-throttle data were isolated and longitudinal acceleration is estimated as a function of grade using Kalman filtering. Using bounding regions to isolate coasting data from active deceleration data, the active deceleration losses

Stegner, Evan, Snitzer, Philip, Bevly, David, Hoffman, Mark

Advanced Tire to Vehicle Connectivity for Safety and Fuel Economy of Automated Heavy-Duty Trucks

2022-01-0881

03/29/2022

Safety, fuel economy and uptime are key requirements for the operation of heavy-duty line-haul trucks within a fleet. With the penetration of connectivity and automation technologies, energy optimal and safe operation of the trucks are further improved through Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) features and automated technologies as in truck platooning. Understanding the braking capability of the vehicle is very important for optimal ADAS and platooning control system design and integration. In this paper, the importance of tire connectivity and tire conditions on truck stopping distance are demonstrated through testing. The test data is further utilized to develop tire models for integration in an optimal vehicle automation for platooning. New ways to produce and use the tire related information in real-time optimal control of platooning trucks are proposed and the contribution of tire information in fuel economy is quantified through simulations. The simulation results of a

Borhan, Hoseinali, Erdogan, Gurkan, Pattel, Bibin, Radulescu, Robert

An Investigation of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Two Bluff Bodies in Close Longitudinal Proximity – Sensitivity to Front-End Geometry

2022-01-0895

03/29/2022

With an increasing focus on the reduction of greenhouse gases by the transport industries and continued development of connected and autonomous vehicle systems, the potential for aerodynamic drag reduction by means of managed systems of vehicles travelling in close-proximity, termed “platooning”, has continued as topic for research. Early-work in passenger-car platooning was conducted by varying the spacing between vehicles in homogeneous platoons. More recently the use of systematic changes in upper-body geometry has provided data for another variable in the assessment of platooning characteristics. The results of the investigation described in this paper adds to previously published platooning results using the Windsor reference model. For this investigation a new add-on geometry to the standard nose was designed to provide a simplified bonnet feature. This was chosen in order to vary the on-set flow approaching the platoon and also to influence the flow in the gap between test

MacAskill, James, Le Good, Geoffrey, Cirstea, Remus

Q&A

22TOFHP02_1102/01/2022

Sensor technology is evolving to satisfy increasingly connected and automated commercial vehicles (CVs). As vehicle management and operation transition from humans to sensors and algorithms, the shift is driving technology development within R&D departments at suppliers of sensor and connectivity solutions. “Standalone sensors, sensor arrays/clusters, photonics and system connectivity strategies must replicate and expand beyond the complex and highly integrated ‘human sensor’ portfolio - sight, sound, touch, temperature, motion, force, position, etc. - to enable ‘hands-off’ vehicle operations and connectivity,” Mark Uhrich, director, ICT Sensors Business Management at TE Connectivity, said of the daunting task facing developers. Sensor and system reliability, redundancy and quality are “more than ever safety-critical” for sensor deployment on vehicles that increasingly rely on digital vs. human decision making. Regarding the significant role connectivity solutions play, he said

Gehm, Ryan

Unsettled Issues in Commercial Vehicle Platooning

EPR202102711/15/2021

While platooning has the potential to reduce energy consumption of commercial vehicles while improving safety, both advantages are currently difficult to quantify due to insufficient data and the wide range of variables affecting models. Platooning will significantly reduce the use of energy when compared to trucks driven alone, or at a safe distance for a driver without any automated assistance. However, drivers typically drive closer to each other than recommended to achieve drafting efficiencies, which may shift the benefit of automated platooning to safety gains. More data will be needed to conclusively demonstrate these gains. Unsettled Issues in Commercial Vehicle Platooning discusses the technologies needed to enable close platooning, including brake system condition monitoring, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and concrete infrastructure assessment. The report also looks at driver acceptance of platooning technology from a safety and job security perspective. Click here to

Muelaner, Jody Emlyn

A Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Design for Autonomous Multivehicle Merging into Platoons

09-10-01-0004

10/25/2021

Integrated control for automated vehicles in platoons with nonlinear coupled dynamics is developed in this article. A nonlinear MPC approach is used to address the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nature of the problem, the nonlinear vehicle dynamics, and the platoon constraints. The control actions are determined by using model-based prediction in conjunction with constrained optimization. Two distinct scenarios are then simulated. The first scenario consists of the multivehicle merging into an existing platoon in a controlled environment in the absence of noise, whereas the effects of external disturbances, modeling errors, and measurement noise are simulated in the second scenario. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is utilized to estimate the system states under the sensor and process noise effectively. The simulation results show that the proposed approach is a suitable tool to handle the nonlinearities in the vehicle dynamics, the complication of the multivehicle merging scenario

Goli, Mohammad, Eskandarian, Azim

Trajectory Planning for Connected and Automated Vehicles: Cruising, Lane Changing, and Platooning

12-04-04-002510/22/2021

Autonomy and connectivity are considered among the most promising technologies to improve safety and mobility and reduce fuel consumption and travel delay in transportation systems. In this paper, we devise an optimal control-based trajectory planning model that can provide safe and efficient trajectories for the subject vehicle while incorporating platoon formation and lane-changing decisions. We embed this trajectory planning model in a simulation framework to quantify its fuel efficiency and travel time reduction benefits for the subject vehicle in a dynamic traffic environment. Specifically, we compare and analyze the statistical performance of different controller designs in which lane changing or platooning may be enabled, under different values of time (VoTs) for travelers. Results from extensive numerical experiments indicate that our design can not only provide first-hand cost savings for the subject vehicle but also second-hand savings for vehicles upstream of the subject

Liu, Xiangguo, Zhao, Guangchen, Masoud, Neda, Zhu, Qi

Optimizing Transportation Efficiency: From Exploiting Environmental Conditions to Urban Platooning

13-03-01-0001

10/04/2021

This article explores a wide variety of energy-saving transportation concepts that exploit the unique characteristics of electric vehicles. The confluence of three emerging concepts in transportation, namely electric vehicles, autonomous navigation, and networked vehicles, is shown to present unprecedented opportunities for the optimization of transportation efficiency, especially for passenger and commercial road vehicles. The article addresses both urban and highway driving situations and some of the associated optimization problems. After the introduction of a suitable powertrain model, several optimization problems of practical importance are formulated. It is shown that if the only term in the cost function is transportation energy, and all other conditions are formulated as constraints, substantial energy cost reductions are possible. In particular, the case of energy-optimal speed trajectories is highlighted, and it is shown that for urban driving, energy savings can exceed 50

Mello, Eduardo Fernando, Bauer, Peter

A Modular Approach to Vehicle Management in a Platoon Group

2021-26-0125

09/22/2021

Platooning is a key research area where increased focus and interest is shown in order to maximize the transport efficiency of road vehicles. Although the key benefits are projected as increased fuel efficiency especially when it comes to commercial vehicles, allied benefits such as convoy pack efficiency, traffic throughput rate, increased life cycle of components and a source of monetary benefit when using a subscription model are areas which need to be explored. Existing literature points to control strategies predominantly focused on longitudinal control and traffic management in bottlenecks. Estimating that the application of platooning concepts will penetrate across commercial vehicle segments as well as passenger vehicles leads to the logical need for a modular control approach for aspects such as realizing influence of convoy speed on selection of vehicle position, relative position of vehicles, convoy dynamics based on weak link approach and sharing monetary benefits based on

Muravaneni, Sai Venkatesh, Nahar, Amit Babalal, Vishwakarma, Pratima

Dynamic Object Collision Avoidance for Autonomous Multi-Vehicle Systems in the Robotic Technology Kernel

2024-01-3937

08/10/2021

ABSTRACT As unmanned ground vehicle technology matures and autonomous platforms become more common, such platforms will invariably be in close proximity to one another both in formation and independently. With an increasingly crowded field, the risk of collisions between these platforms grows, and with it the need for path deconfliction. This paper presents two complementary technological developments to this end: a pipeline for affirmatively identifying and classifying dynamic objects, e.g., vehicles or pedestrians; and a pipeline for preventing collisions with such objects. The efficacy of these techniques is demonstrated in simulation, and validation on robotic platforms will be undertaken in the near future. Citation: Matthew Grogan, “Dynamic Object Collision Avoidance for Autonomous Multi-Vehicle Systems in the Robotic Technology Kernel”, In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 13-15, 2019.

Grogan, Matthew

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