Connected Cruise Control of a Vehicle Platoon with Uncertain Actuator Delays Based on Robust Model Predictive Control Method

Abstract:

Considering the uncertainties of actuator delays in a vehicle platoon， a novel connected cruise control based on robust model predictive control method is proposed. The approach deals with the safety constraints in transients， and accommodates vehicle platoons string stability and robustness against uncertain actuator delays. The mathematical model of a connected vehicle platoon is established and its control architecture for platoon cruising is proposed. Then， the linear feedback characteristics of model predictive control （MPC） under unconstrained conditions are analyzed. Adopting H∞ control method， the robustness to the uncertainties of actuator delays is analyzed， and the realization conditions of L2 string stability are obtained. Finally， a controller matching approach is applied to tune the weight matrix of MPC according to the linear feedback law obtained. The simulation results show that the proposed control method simplifies the controller matching in engineering applications and further improves the functional stability and safety of the connected cruise control for vehicle platoon.