Event-triggered Position Scheduling Based Platooning Control Design for Automated Vehicles

This paper focuses on the design and implementation of a sampled-data controller for connected autonomous vehicle platoons operating in a predecessor-follower configuration. Due to the cost and reliability concerns associated with velocity and acceleration sensors, this study involves the development of an event-based sampled-data controller that relies solely on position measurements. Considering the limitations of velocity and acceleration sensors, a memory-based sampled-data controller is proposed that utilizes current and preceding position data information to approximate velocity and acceleration. To conserve communication resources, the controller incorporates a dynamic event-driven communication mechanism. In particular, event-driven communication thresholds are adaptively adjusted based on platooning errors between vehicles. This enhances resource utilization while maintaining control performance. In addition, determining the maximum allowable sampling period and event-triggered constraint parameters is crucial for reliable control performance. This is achieved by formulating and solving stability criteria for the closed-loop platoon error system using Lyapunov stability theory and the linear matrix inequality framework. Finally, comprehensive numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed event-triggered control algorithm under the influence of some key factors, including triggering instants and unknown nonlinearity effects.