Longitudinal Control of a Platoon of Road Vehicles Equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control System

Automotive vehicle following systems are essential for the design of automated highway system. The problem associated with the automatic vehicle following system is the string stability of the platoon of vehicles, i.e. the problem of uniform velocity and spacing errors propagation. Different control algorithm for the longitudinal control of a platoon are discussed based on different spacing policies, communication link among the vehicles of a platoon, and the performance of a platoon have been analysed in the presence of disturbance (noise) and parametric uncertainties. This paper presented the PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) feedback control algorithm for the longitudinal control of a platoon in the presence of noise signal and investigates the performance of platoon under the influence of sudden acceleration and braking in severe conditions. This model has been applied on 6 vehicles moving in a platoon. The platoon has been analysed to retain the uniform velocity and safe spacing among the vehicles. The limitations of PID control algorithm have been discussed and the alternate methods have been suggested. Model simulations, in comparison with the literature, are also presented.