Cooperative Look-Ahead Control for Fuel-Efficient and Safe Heavy-Duty Vehicle Platooning

Turri, Valerio; Besselink, Bart; Johansson, Karl H. · 2017 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1109/tcst.2016.2542044

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Summary

This paper addresses the challenge of optimizing fuel efficiency and safety in heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) platooning, particularly on roads with significant altitude variations. While platooning reduces aerodynamic drag and fuel consumption, the large mass and limited engine power of HDVs make maintaining short inter-vehicular distances difficult on slopes. Standard feedback controllers often lead to inefficient braking or unfeasible trajectories in hilly terrain, potentially increasing fuel consumption for follower vehicles. Motivated by experimental data showing that existing strategies fail to coordinate acceleration effectively on steep gradients, the authors propose a cooperative look-ahead control architecture. The proposed solution utilizes a two-layer control framework. The first layer, the platoon coordinator, employs dynamic programming to compute a fuel-optimal speed profile for the entire platoon. This calculation incorporates preview information regarding road topography and speed limits, allowing the system to anticipate slopes and adjust speeds proactively. The second layer consists of decentralized vehicle controllers that use distributed model predictive control to track the reference speed profile and maintain safe gaps in real-time. The vehicle models account for longitudinal dynamics, including engine force, braking force, gravity, rolling resistance, and aerodynamic drag, with the drag coefficient modeled as a function of the distance to the preceding vehicle. The fuel consumption is estimated using a linear regression model derived from engine brake-specific fuel consumption maps. The effectiveness of the architecture is evaluated through simulations based on realistic scenarios, including a 45 km highway stretch between Mariefred and Eskilstuna, Sweden. The analysis highlights specific segments where standard feedback controls cause follower vehicles to brake unnecessarily due to steep downhills or fail to maintain gaps on uphills. In contrast, the proposed look-ahead strategy coordinates vehicle accelerations to avoid these inefficiencies. Simulation results indicate that the cooperative controller can achieve fuel savings of up to 12% for follower vehicles compared to standard platoon controllers. Additionally, the paper proves that the architecture ensures collision avoidance within the platoon even if up to one vehicle is controlled manually. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration that explicit coordination and preview information are essential for maximizing the fuel-efficiency benefits of HDV platooning. By addressing the limitations of local feedback control in the presence of road gradients, the proposed method offers a robust solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in freight transportation. The findings support the development of automated, fuel-efficient freight systems that can safely operate heterogeneous platoons under varying road conditions.

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