Risk-Aware and Collision-Preventive Cooperative Fleet Cruise Control Based on Vehicular Sensor Networks

In this article, we propose a cooperative fleet cruise control (CFCC) framework for collision avoidance and lane changing based on vehicular sensor networks. The proposed CFCC framework is designed for fleets to reduce the recovery time to get the intended speed back after sudden braking, which can improve the driving efficiency of fleets. In addition, CFCC can determine the critical safety spaces of car following and lane changing for fleet vehicles to avoid the accident of rear-end and side collisions due to emergency braking. Furthermore, fleet lane changing can be coordinated between fleet vehicles in the original lane and neighboring vehicles in the target lane for ensuring safety and improving efficiency. According to our review of relevant research, CFCC is the first fleet cruise control system to provide the following features: 1) extending the car following risk of individual vehicles to the fleet following risk of fleet vehicles; 2) minimizing the acceleration and deceleration of fleet vehicles to reduce the speed recovery time; and 3) coordinating individual cars and fleet vehicles to provide the sufficient lane changing space as soon as possible. Simulation results show that our framework outperforms existing car following and lane changing methods and can significantly improve the driving safety and recovery efficiency of fleets as emergency events occur.