Distributed MPC-Based Hierarchical Cooperative Control for Mixed Vehicle Groups With T-CPS in the Vicinity of Traffic Signal Light

To minimize the stop-and-go behavior caused by human factors and traffic signal light constraints, this paper proposes a distributed MPC-based hierarchical cooperative control protocol for mixed vehicle groups consisting of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and Human-driven Vehicles (HVs) in the vicinity of traffic signal lights (VTSL). Firstly, to characterize the formation pattern and mechanism of the mixed vehicle groups, the subgroup division and subgroup reorganization method is presented in the VTSL. Secondly, since human factors can affect the driving behavior of all vehicles within a subgroup, a HV model is established via considering human factors, such as the driver’s insensitivity to distance and speed of the preceding vehicle. Thirdly, to guarantee the maximum number of vehicles passing the VTSL and the minimum travel time under the traffic signal light constraints, a distributed MPC-based hierarchical cooperative control method is proposed from the Transportation Cyber-Physical System (T-CPS) perspective. Finally, the simulator experiment results indicate that the proposed control protocol is more advantageous and effective as the penetration rate of CAVs continuously increase.