Evaluation of adaptive cruise control algorithms on a virtual test track

This paper presents evaluation of adaptive cruise control (ACC) algorithms using a vehicle simulator on a virtual test track (VTT). An adaptive vehicle cruise control strategy has been designed to achieve natural vehicle behavior of the controlled vehicle that would feel comfortable to the human driver and therefore would increase driver acceptance. The evaluation and comparisons of the ACC and manual driving have been conducted using real-world vehicle driving data and an ACC vehicle simulator. Vehicle behavior and interactions between the vehicle, the controller and the human driver are investigated by using a vehicle simulator on a virtual test track designed and built based on the rapid control prototyping (RCP). The VTT consists of a powerful simulation engine, a visual animation engine, a visual display, and human-vehicle interfaces. The VTT has been developed and used for the evaluation of the ACC under various realistic conditions in the laboratory.