A real-time multi-vehicle simulator for longitudinal controller design

This paper presents a new multi-vehicle simulator for platoon simulation. The main new feature of the developed simulator is a network structure for the real-time simulation of multiple vehicles, each with a detailed powertrain and engine model. It has a small initial delay, which is determined by the number of connected PCs, but the actual simulation is performed and displayed in real-time after this initial and one-time delay. Several longitudinal controllers, including a PID controller with gain scheduling, an adaptive controller, and a fuzzy controller, are also implemented in the simulator. Various system parameters can be modified interactively in the simulator screen, which is very useful for simulating a platoon of heterogeneous vehicles, in which vehicles with different dynamics and different longitudinal controllers may be involved. The simulator provides an excellent tool to develop vehicle longitudinal controllers and to study platoon behaviors. The developed simulator is also effective in testing the effects of nonlinearities neglected in the controller design phase, such as actuator delays and gear shifting schedule.     

Design and Evaluation of Robust Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Systems in Parameter Space

This paper is on the design of cooperative adaptive cruise control systems for automated driving of platoons of vehicles in the longitudinal direction. Longitudinal models of vehicles with simple dynamics, an uncertain first order time constant and vehicle to vehicle communication with a communication delay are used in the vehicle modeling. A robust parameter space approach is developed and applied to the design of the cooperative adaptive cruise control system. D-stability is chosen as the robust performance goal and the feedback PD controller is designed in controller parameter space to achieve this D-stability goal for a range of possible longitudinal dynamics time constants and different values of time gap. Preceding vehicle acceleration is sent to the ego vehicle using vehicle to vehicle communication and a feedforward controller is used in this inter-vehicle loop to improve performance. Simulation results of an eight vehicle platoon of heterogeneous vehicles are presented and evaluated to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed design method. Also, the proposed method is compared with a benchmark controller and the feedback only controller. Time gap regulation and string stability are used to assess performance and the effect of the vehicle to vehicle communication frequency on control system performance is also investigated.     

A New Control Approach for Platoon Operations during Vehicle Exit/Entry

A new platoon control concept is introduced, called Back Control, in which the controller of a given vehicle utilizes state information from the lead, preceding, and following vehicles, as well as the vehicle itself. Simulations are carried out on two non-steady state platoon operations - vehicle exit and vehicle entry from a platoon. A previously developed longitudinal controller is utilized as a reference to the proposed Back controller and a ride quality index is used to assess passenger comfort in these simulations. It is shown that the Back controller has advantages over the reference controller in these two operations and that it is therefore worth examining as a candidate controller of vehicular platoons, especially in non-nominal operations.     

Safety Oriented Maneuvers for IVHS

The IVHS architecture of the California PATH program organizes traffic into platoons of closely spaced vehicles. Platoons are formed and broken up by two longitudinal control maneuvers, the merge and the split. A third longitudinal maneuver, decelerate to change lane, allows a platoon switching from one lane to another to enter its new lane at a safe spacing and speed. The maneuvers, particularly the merge, can be potentially hazardous. In a merge, the cars in the trail platoon are moving faster than those in the lead platoon, while the gap separating the two platoons is smaller than usual. A sudden deceleration by the lead platoon could cause a high-speed collision. If the relative velocities of the merging platoons can be constrained so that they are guaranteed never to collide at a high relative velocity, the merge can be considered safe. A maximum safe velocity for the trail platoon can be found for any given spacing and lead-platoon velocity. This paper presents a merge maneuver in which the velocity of the trail platoon never exceeds the maximum safe velocity. The controller switches among several feedback control laws that keep the velocity of the trail platoon inside a safe region and within comfort limits on jerk and acceleration, under normal circumstances. This merge maneuver can be considered to be the fastest merge strategy mat does not violate bounds on safety and comfort. The controller is also more robust to changes in the vehicles' acceleration capability than those that use a desired open-loop trajectory

The control approach used for the merge maneuver can be applied to the other maneuvers to ensure that they never result in a collision. The switching controllers for the split and decelerate to change lane maneuvers that are safe and yield a more comfortable ride than those that track a timed trajectory are also presented.     

纯电动商用车异质队列的多目标控制

队列行驶的研究能有效解决商用车货运安全、能耗浪费和环境污染等问题,但现有研究多基于单一跟车目标控制的匀质队列,这在货运场景中无法达到很好的控制效果。本文中构造了纯电动异质商用车队列,为其设计了分布式非线性模型预测控制器。根据道路环境信息和车辆跟车、安全、舒适和节能等特性,分别建立了领航车和跟随车的控制器模型,实现异质队列的多目标控制。为验证所提出控制方法的有效性,由5辆动力学特性相异的商用车组成队列,并搭建了控制仿真平台进行Trucksim/Simulink联合仿真。结果表明,本文中提出的控制算法能有效实现异质商用车队列的多目标控制,与PID定速巡航控制相比,能耗可降低5.3%以上。     

Fuzzy Logic Traction Controllers and their Effect on Longitudinal Vehicle Platoon Systems

This paper presents two fuzzy logic traction controllers and investigates their effect on longitudinal platoon systems. A fuzzy logic approach is appealing for traction control because of the nonlinearity and time-varying uncertainty involved in traction control systems

The fuzzy logic traction controllers we present regulate brake torque to control wheel slip, which is the normalized difference between wheel and vehicle speed. One fuzzy controller estimates the peak slip corresponding to the maximum tire-road adhesion coefficient and regulates wheel slip at the peak slip. The controller is attractive because of its ability to maximize acceleration and deceleration regardless of road condition. However, we find through simulations the controller's performance degrades in the presence of time-varying uncertainties. The other fuzzy logic controller regulates wheel slip at any desired value. Through simulations we find the controller robust against changing road conditions and uncertainties. The target slip is predetermined and not necessarily the peak slip for all road conditions. If the target slip is set low, stable acceleration and deceleration is guaranteed, regardless of road condition

We also study the effect of traction control on longitudinal vehicle platoon systems using simulations. The simulations include acceleration and deceleration maneuvers on an icy road. The results indicate traction control may substantially improve longitudinal platoon performance, especially when icy road conditions exist.     

A Simplified Framework for String Stability Analysis of Automated Vehicles*

Automated vehicles traveling in platoons must exhibit stability both individually and as a group, a property referred to as “string stability”. We propose a new framework for evaluating the longitudinal string stability properties of platoons of automated vehicles. In this framework, the platoon is considered to be a mass-spring-damper system with linear characteristics. The resulting closed-loop representation yields transfer functions and impulse responses that can be analyzed to determine the string stability properties of the platoon. This framework facilitates qualitative comparisons of the effects of various controller characteristics, such as time headway and intervehicle communication, on string stability.     

车路协同下车队避让紧急车辆的换道引导方法

为保证紧急车辆更安全、高效地到达紧急事故现场,基于车路协同系统,提出车队避让紧急车辆的换道引导策略。针对目标车道无车辆、有车辆和有车队3种不同场景,分别提出确保紧急车辆快速通过的协同换道策略。通过协同换道策略引导紧急车辆前方行驶的车队和目标车道的车辆改变速度以调整车辆间距,使其满足换道安全距离,依据换道轨迹规划使车队完成换道,并提出紧急车辆发送紧急避让信号的位置方法,计算当不影响紧急车辆的速度情况下,其发送紧急避让信号时与车队尾车的最短距离。利用SUMO交通仿真软件,实现车路协同环境下3种不同场景车队避让紧急车辆的换道引导,并比较目标车道为车队的场景下,车队换道至目标车队的每个空档中（方式A）和车队换道至目标车队的同一个空档中（方式B）2种不同的换道引导策略。研究结果表明：目标车道有车队的场景下,方式B的协同换道时间更短,发送紧急信号的位置距车队尾车82 m,较方式A的87 m更近,对周围车辆影响更小,因此此场景采用方式B的协同换道策略;在目标车道无车辆、有车辆和有车队3种场景下,紧急车辆分别距车队尾车71,71,82 m时发送紧急避让信号,其可以维持期望速度,验证了最短距离与车辆速度的关系式;与未使用换道引导策略的情况相比,紧急车辆的速度提高,延误减少。     

车-车协同下无人驾驶车辆的换道汇入控制方法

多车协同驾驶是智能车路系统领域的研究热点之一,可有效降低道路交通控制管理的复杂程度,减少环境污染的同时保障道路交通安全。基于多车协同驾驶控制结构,提出了一种无人驾驶车辆换道汇入的驾驶模型及策略,系统分析了多车协同运行状态的稳定条件。在综合分析无人驾驶车辆换道汇入的协作准则、安全性评估后,基于高阶多项式方法,结合车辆运行特性,通过引入乘坐舒适性的指标函数,设计得到无人驾驶车辆换道汇入的有效运动轨迹。通过研究汇入车辆与车队中汇入点前、后各车辆的运动关系,详细分析车辆发生碰撞的类型和影响因素,给出避免碰撞的条件准则,从而确保无人驾驶车辆汇入过程中多车行驶的安全性和稳定性。基于车辆运动学建立车辆位置误差模型,结合系统大范围渐进稳定的条件,选取线速度和角速度作为输入,应用李雅普诺夫稳定性理论和Backstepping非线性控制算法,设计了无人驾驶车辆换道汇入后的路径跟踪控制器。仿真试验和实车试验结果表明：所设计的换道汇入路径是可行、安全的,控制器具有良好的跟踪效果,纵向和横向的距离误差在15 cm以内,方向偏差的相对误差在10%以内。研究结果为智能车路系统中的多车状态变迁与协同驾驶研究提供了参考,可服务于未来道路交通安全设计和评价。     

A Simplified Framework for String Stability Analysis of Automated Vehicles∗

SUMMARY

Automated vehicles traveling in platoons must exhibit stability both individually and as a group, a property referred to as “string stability”. We propose a new framework for evaluating the longitudinal string stability properties of platoons of automated vehicles. In this framework, the platoon is considered to be a mass-spring-damper system with linear characteristics. The resulting closed-loop representation yields transfer functions and impulse responses that can be analyzed to determine the string stability properties of the platoon. This framework facilitates qualitative comparisons of the effects of various controller characteristics, such as time headway and intervehicle communication, on string stability.     

Automated Vehicle Merging Maneuver Implementation for AHS

Summary This paper presents a real-time implementation of a general merging algorithm for automated highway systems. A merging control problem is proposed first. A real-time algorithm is then presented, which is used to calculate a smooth reference speed trajectory for the merging vehicle based on the speed of the main lane vehicle. This algorithm can also be applied even when the main lane vehicles change speed. To make the algorithm adapt to different road layouts and to increase safety, a concept of virtual platooning is proposed. It effectively shifts the time of platoon formation forward prior to the start of real merging. Aspects closely related to real-time implementation are discussed, such as the controller adopted, the use of magnetometer based distance measurement and information passing by communication from main lane vehicles. Test results are presented and briefly analyzed.     

A Comparision of Spacing and Headway Control Laws for Automatically Controlled Vehicles1

SUMMARY

This paper investigates two different longitudinal control policies for automatically controlled vehicles. One is based on maintaining a constant spacing between the vehicles while the other is based upon maintaining a constant headway (or time) between successive vehicles. To avoid collisions in the platoon, controllers have to be designed to ensure string stability, i.e the spacing errors should not get amplified as they propagate upstream from vehicle to vehicle. A measure of string stability is introduced and a systematic method of designing constant spacing controllers which guarantee string stability is presented. The constant headway policy does not require inter-vehicle communication to assure string stablity. Also, since inter-vehicle communication is not required it can be used in systems with mixed automated-nonautomated vehicles, e.g for AICC (Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control). It is shown in this paper that for all the autonomous headway control laws, the desired control torques are inversely proportional to the headway time.     

Full drive-by-wire dynamic control for four-wheel-steer all-wheel-drive vehicles

Most of the controllers introduced for four-wheel-steer (4WS) vehicles are derived with the assumption that the longitudinal speed of the vehicle is constant. However, in real applications, the longitudinal speed varies, and the longitudinal, lateral, and yaw dynamics are coupled. In this paper, the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle as well as its lateral and yaw motions are controlled simultaneously. This way, the effect of driving/braking forces of the tires on the lateral and yaw motions of the vehicle are automatically included in the control laws. To address the dynamic parameter uncertainty of the vehicle, a chatter-free variable structure controller is introduced. Elimination of chatter is achieved by introducing a dynamically adaptive boundary layer thickness. It is shown via simulations that the proposed control approach performs more robustly than the controllers developed based on dynamic models, in which longitudinal speed is assumed to be constant, and only lateral speed and yaw rate are used as system states. Furthermore, this approach supports all-wheel-drive vehicles. Front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive vehicles are also supported as special cases of an all-wheel-drive vehicle.     

基于滑模控制的时滞自动车辆跟随系统数学模型

基于非线性车辆动力学方程和固定车辆间距跟随策略,对具有时间滞后的自动化公路系统车辆纵向跟随控制问题进行了研究。在假定车队中的每个被控制车辆能够接收到车队领头车辆以及该车前面一个车辆的位移、速度和加速度信息的情况下,应用滑模变结构控制方法,通过对滑模运动方程的分析,得到了关于车辆间距误差的车辆纵向跟随系统的数学模型。该模型属于一类具有时间滞后的无限维非线性关联大系统。在具有时间滞后的车辆纵向跟随控制器设计中,利用该类非线性关联大系统的稳定性判定条件来设计控制参数,可确保车辆纵向跟随控制系统的稳定性。     

基于自然驾驶数据的切入场景队列跟驰仿真

车辆切入是常见的驾驶行为，频繁的变道切入行为影响了通行效率与交通安全。因此，揭示切入场景下的驾驶特性对研究交通拥堵和行驶安全机理具有重要意义。在自然驾驶数据的基础上，根据驾驶人的主观风险感知特性，探究驾驶人的切入行为发生条件，并在期望安全裕度（DSM）模型的基础上，标定了切入场景下的相关参数，根据标定结果进行切入场景下的队列跟驰仿真。仿真结果表明:在仿真区间内，队列的长度、行驶速度以及切入车的切入位置不同会影响队列的稳定性以及队列的调整，当队列长度由4辆变为13辆，速度由5 m/s增至20 m/s，切入车的位置由贴近前后车变为前后2辆车中间时，切入行为对队列的稳定性影响变得越小，队列越容易恢复到稳定状态。      

Safe Platooning in Automated Highway Systems Part II: Velocity Tracking Controller

This paper presents the design of a velocity tracking controller for safe vehicle maneuvering in Automated Highway Systems (AHS) in which traffic is organized into platoons of closely spaced vehicles. The notion of safety is related to the absence of collisions that exceed a given relative velocity threshold. In a companion paper, state dependent safety regions for the platoons are designed in such a way that, whenever the state of a platoon is inside these safety regions, it is guaranteed that platoon maneuvering will be safe and follow the behavior prescribed by the finite state machines that control vehicles maneuvers. Velocity profiles inside these safety regions are derived for all the single lane maneuvers and a nonlinear velocity tracking controller is designed to track these profiles. This controller attempts to complete the maneuvers with comfort in minimum time, whenever safety is not compromised. The control schemes presented in this paper were implemented and tested using AHS simulation software.     

具有模块化结构的汽车动力学仿真模型的初步研究

初步探讨了面向开发型驾驶模拟器的具有模块化结构的汽车动力学仿真模型建立方法，从而可以在此基础上进一步建立一套通用的面向结构的汽车动力学仿真程序，便捷地在开发型驾驶模拟器上实现对不同类型或同类型不同结构车辆性能的仿真。     

不同雷诺数下车辆队列尾车发动机舱盖气动特性研究

数值仿真与模型风洞试验相结合研究了典型工况下两车队列中尾车发动机舱盖气动特性和两车间隔区域的流场,对比了缩比模型和实车模型对应雷诺数下车辆队列的流动形态。缩比模型仿真结果与风洞试验结果一致表明采用数值方法的可行。对比不同雷诺数下车辆队列气动特性发现,缩比模型与实车模型发动机舱盖表面平均静压分布基本相同,但在纵向对称面上,实车模型的前车尾迹比缩比模型更加上扬,底部区域气流速度更高。非定常条件下,实车模型前车尾涡相对尺度明显小于缩比模型,且扩散得更充分,尾迹区涡的分布状态更加混沌,发动机舱盖表面脉动能量的分布更加混乱。涡在两车间隔区域的运动并非简单的移动,而是一个由涡破裂、涡配对和涡融合构成的复杂过程。     

Traffic-balancing algorithm for can systems with dual communication channels to enhance the network capacity

The controller area network (CAN) is the dominant protocol for in-vehicle network (IVN) systems because it provides bounded transmission delay among electronic control units (ECUs) at data rates between 100 Kbps and 1 Mbps. Many automotive companies have chosen the CAN protocol for their chassis network system of intelligent vehicles. However, the increasing number of ECUs in intelligent vehicles and the need for more intelligent functions require a network system with more network capacity and real-time capability. As one approach to enhance the network capacity of a CAN system, this paper introduces a CAN system with dual communication channels. This paper also presents a traffic-balancing algorithm that predicts the traffic of each channel and allocates frames to the most appropriate channel. An experimental testbed using commercial off-the-shelf microcontrollers with two CAN controllers was used to demonstrate the feasibility of the traffic-balancing algorithm.     

HEV控制器硬件在环仿真平台的研究与开发

针对控制器传统开发方法中存在的局限性以及混合动力汽车动力传动系统控制的复杂性,应用控制系统现代开发技术,为某型混合动力客车多能源动力总成控制器开发了硬件在环仿真测试平台,该平台包括实时硬件和系统模型、信号调理电路等,并利用它对控制器进行了仿真测试。仿真测试结果与试验结果说明,所开发平台模型的精度基本能够满足仿真测试要求。控制器的环境试验和在EMC试验中的成功应用以及控制器在车上的正常运行,验证了在混合动力汽车多能源动力总成控制器的开发过程中采用自行开发硬件在环仿真测试平台这一技术方案的可行性。