A Review on Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) Systems: Architectures, Controls, and Applications

Wang, Ziran; Wu, Guoyuan; Barth, Matthew J. · 2018 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1109/itsc.2018.8569947

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Summary

This review paper examines the state of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) systems, a technology that extends standard Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) by enabling Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) to coordinate maneuvers via Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications. The research is motivated by the potential of CACC to address critical transportation challenges, including safety, mobility, and sustainability. By allowing vehicles to form platoons with shorter time headways, CACC aims to reduce roadway accidents, alleviate traffic congestion, and lower energy consumption and pollutant emissions through reduced aerodynamic drag and smoother driving patterns. The authors categorize the review into three primary domains: system architectures, control methodologies, and applications. Regarding architectures, the paper details the system structure, which integrates onboard sensors (radar, Lidar) with V2V communication units (typically using DSRC, LTE, or 5G protocols) to share parameters like speed, acceleration, and position. It analyzes various information flow topologies, ranging from early predecessor-following models to more complex distributed structures like predecessor-leader and bidirectional flows, which leverage wider communication ranges. In the control section, the paper evaluates longitudinal control strategies essential for maintaining platoon stability and efficiency. It reviews Model Predictive Control (MPC), noting its ability to minimize fuel consumption and handle constraints, though often requiring distributed implementations (DMPC) to manage computational loads. Consensus control is examined as a distributed approach where agents reach agreement on states through local interactions, with variations addressing time delays and higher-order dynamics. Optimal control methods are highlighted for their capacity to handle nonlinearities and minimize energy usage, while string stability is identified as a critical requirement to prevent error amplification within platoons. The applications section demonstrates CACC’s utility in vehicle platooning, eco-driving on signalized corridors, and cooperative merging at highway on-ramps. Specific findings include simulation results showing up to 40% energy savings in eco-driving scenarios and 90% reductions in intersection delays with optimal intersection CACC systems. The paper concludes by identifying open challenges for future research, including the need for more reliable architectures capable of handling dynamic traffic environments and communication imperfections, the development of ready-to-market control methodologies validated through extensive real-world testing, and addressing the high implementation costs that may hinder widespread adoption.

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• v2x connected vehicle