Output Feedback Controller Design for a Mixed Traffic Flow System Moving in a Loop

In this paper, we study a mixed traffic system moving along a single-lane ring road, that forms a platoon and includes a number of heterogeneous human-driven vehicles (HDVs) together with one connected and automated vehicle (CAV). The dynamics of HDVs are assumed to follow the optimal velocity model (OVM), and the acceleration of the single CAV is directly controlled by a dynamical output feedback controller. The ultimate goal of this work is to present a robust control strategy that can smoothen the traffic flow in the presence of undesired disturbances. A prerequisite for synthesizing a dynamical output controller is the stabilizability and detectability of the underlying system. Accordingly, a theoretical analysis is presented first to prove the stabilizability and detectability of the mixed traffic flow system. Then, an H
_∞
robust controller is designed, and its efficiency is illustrated through numerical simulations.