Vehicle control algorithms for cooperative driving with automated vehicles and intervehicle communications

Describes the technologies of cooperative driving with automated vehicles and intervehicle communications in the Demo 2000 cooperative driving. Cooperative driving, aiming at the compatibility of safety and efficiency of road traffic, means that automated vehicles drive by forming a flexible platoon over a couple of lanes with a short intervehicle distance while performing lane changing, merging, and leaving the platoon. The vehicles for the demonstration are equipped with automated lateral and longitudinal control functions with localization data by the differential global positioning system (DGPS) and the intervehicle communication function with 5.8-GHz dedicated short range communication (DSRC) designed for the dedicated use in the demonstration. In order to show the feasibility and potential of the technologies, the demonstration was held in November 2000, on a test track with five automated vehicles. The scenario included stop and go, platooning, merging, and obstacle avoidance.

I. Introduction

The introduction of automation into road traffic would provide essential solutions to the issues of the accidents, congestion, pollution and the energy consumption. Automated highway systems by not only a free agent but also a platoon have been demonstrated over the past several years [1]–[6]. The effect of the introduction of the automation on the safety can be investigated with an automated free agent, but that on the efficiency or the increase in the throughput of roadways must be investigated with an automated platoon. This paper describes the technologies for a flexible automated platooning or the cooperative driving.