Sub-Optimal Longitudinal Control of Road Vehicles With Capacity and Safety Considerations

Abstract

This paper presents a technique for longitudinal control of road vehicles. The technique is based on the calculation of safety distances between two vehicles and uses an optimal control strategy to regulate the speed and position of the controlled vehicle. The technique we propose can be used either for platooning strategies or for autonomous control, i.e., without cooperation or communication between vehicles or with the infrastructure required. We mainly focus on the latter aspect, in which case only measurements of the distance from the preceding vehicle are required, and can be obtained by means of a LiDAR or any equivalent system. First, we study the vehicle model and the control law, then we present simulations, stability results and evaluations.