Dynamic Modeling of Vehicular Platoons: Highlighting The Effects of Communication Topologies on Safety, Robustness, and Scalability
Creators: Zakerimanesh, Amir
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

<p>Recent advancements in information and communication technologies have accelerated the development of intelligent transportation systems. Among these, platooning technology involves the coordinated movement of a lead vehicle and multiple followers at specified inter-vehicle distances and synchronized speeds.  Beyond its transformative potential in industries such as commercial transportation and traffic management, intelligent vehicle platooning holds promise for enhancing safety, optimizing infrastructure utilization, increasing highway capacity, reducing aerodynamic drag and fuel consumption, mitigating road traffic accidents, and stimulating economic growth.</p>

<p>However, realizing these benefits presents challenges. Factors such as transient distance variations from desired values, limitations of individual vehicle speeds and accelerations, effect of communication topologies, the effect of parity and disparity between vehicles, and the identification of appropriate control gains must be addressed to prevent potential collisions and avoid impractical accelerations and decelerations. Additionally, the ability to decouple the proper control-gains identifications from the leader vehicle&#39;s speed is of paramount importance, providing the consideration of various scenarios, including those with constant and varying speeds for the lead vehicle during steady-state.</p>

<p>This research explores distributed linear controllers and  transitioning from distinctions between follower-leader states to variations among neighboring vehicles, we have unearthed the dynamics governing deviations in state from their target values. Our findings demonstrate that these dynamics operate independently of the leader vehicle&#39;s state, enabling the assurance of desired distances and synchronized speeds even when the leader vehicle&#39;s speed fluctuates during platoon&#39;s steady-state. These dynamics are presented for typical and non-typical communication topologies, regardless of the number of vehicles, and under identical and nonidentical control gain feedback.</p>

<p>Moreover, this study elucidates the profound influence of initial conditions on the evolution of vehicle states and elucidates the intricate relationship between these initial conditions and transient deviations, all within the context of communication topologies, vehicle attributes, and control parameters. It strategically incorporates collision and safe distance constraints, as well as feasible-velocity limitations, producing graphical pattern outputs based on varying control gains specific to each communication topology. This approach allows for a comprehensive exploration of the diverse effects of different communication structures. Additionally, it delves into the dynamics of heterogeneous platoons and emphasizes the crucial role of broadcasting the leader vehicle&#39;s state in enhancing platoon scalability and robustness, offering valuable insights into these two fundamental aspects of this complex domain.</p>

<p>In summary, this work offers valuable insights into the dynamics governing deviations in states from their desired values and the influence of communication topologies, initial conditions, vehicle features, and control parameters.</p>