Title: Linearising longitudinal vehicle dynamics through adaptive control techniques for platooning applications

Authors: Umberto Montanaro; Michal Wroblewski; Shilp Dixit; Samuel Creighton; Sukanthan Pragalathan; Aldo Sorniotti; Stefano De Pinto

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK ' Chassis Vehicle Technology Department, McLaren Technology Centre, Chertsey Road, Woking GU21 4YH, Surrey, UK

Abstract: Vehicle platooning provides avenues to improve road transportation. However, to safely operate a vehicle platoon, stringent conditions, e.g., string stability, on the closed-loop platoon dynamics must be guaranteed. To meet such platoon control specifications, linear longitudinal vehicle dynamics are usually assumed for the platoon control design and are imposed by using mid-level control systems. However, disturbances and model mismatches can limit the compensation of the nonlinear vehicle dynamics. To systematically impose the linear behaviour to each vehicle in a platoon despite model uncertainties and disturbances, two adaptive solutions are proposed and compared: an adaptive solution for systems in Brunovsky's form and the enhanced model reference adaptive control. Numerical results confirm that both adaptive techniques are effective in imposing the linear dynamics to the longitudinal vehicle motion, also when integrated within a platoon control architecture. The closed-loop platoon performance is assessed via a set of performance indicators for different platoon lengths.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles; platooning; connected autonomous vehicles; CAVs; adaptive control; model reference adaptive control.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2021.120942

International Journal of Powertrains, 2021 Vol.10 No.4, pp.312 - 335

Received: 29 May 2020
Accepted: 01 Aug 2020
Published online: 18 Feb 2022 *

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