Feedforward Extension to Improve LQR Performance in Internal Boundary Control

A new concept called TrafficFluid proposes that autonomous vehicles do not need to drive on traffic lanes, and this allows for sharing of the capacity of the road in real-time between the two traffic directions using Internal Boundary Control (IBC). This new traffic control measure was demonstrated to be very effective in improving traffic flow efficiency when evaluated through macroscopic traffic flow models using LQR (Linear Quadratic Regulator). In this study, to enhance the performance of LQR, a feedforward term, accounting for external disturbances, i.e. entering and on-ramp flows, is designed, leading to an augmented LQR-FF control scheme. To evaluate the effectiveness of the LQR and LQR-FF controllers, a realistic demand scenario is considered and the two control schemes are tested and compared, indicating benefits for the LQR-FF scheme.