Control of Mixed Platoons Consist of Automated and Manual Vehicles

Platooning has a great potential for improving highway traffic flow. Platooning research focuses on fully automated platoons. However, in the near future traffic will be mixed and will consist of automated and manually driven vehicles. This work introduces a new concept of mixed platoons, i.e., platoons consist of automated and manual vehicles. In a mixed platoon the automated vehicles are controlled as part of the mixed traffic, using global sight on traffic. This way the mixed traffic flow can be optimized using the automated vehicles. The mixed platoons control developed in this paper implements the same control components that are used for automated platoons, but modifies them to suit mixed traffic environment. That is, a new Information Flow Topology (IFT) and new Distributed Controller (DC) are developed for mixed platoons using H∞ control methods. Subsequently, a string stability analysis for a mixed platoon is shown, demonstrates the feasibility and potential of mixed platoons.