DistributedH∞ Controller Design and Robustness Analysis for Vehicle Platooning Under Random Packet Drop

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a robust distributed state-feedback controller in the discrete-time domain for homogeneous vehicle platoons with undirected topologies, whose dynamics are subjected to external disturbances and under random single packet drop scenario. A linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is used for devising the control gains such that a bounded H ∞ norm is guaranteed. Furthermore, a lower bound of the robustness measure, denoted as γ gain, is derived analytically for two platoon communication topologies, i.e., the bidirectional predecessor following (BPF) and the bidirectional predecessor leader following (BPLF). It is shown that the γ gain is highly affected by the communication topology and drastically reduces when the information of the leader is sent to all followers. Finally, numerical results demonstrate the ability of the proposed methodology to impose the platoon control objective for the BPF and BPLF topology under random single packet drop. Index Terms-Vehicle platoon, LMI, distributed H ∞ control with packet drops, robustness of closed-loop system.

Stability Analysis With LMI Based Distributed H ∞ Controller for Vehicle Platooning Under Random Multiple Packet Drops

“…In general, the vehicles in a platoon exchange their information with other platoon members using wireless communication systems to support vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication to maintain the cooperative motion [1]. The information exchange, through wireless communication, amongst the vehicles in a platoon can be distinguished by the network topology or information flow topology (IFT) [6]- [9]. The IFT can be either directed or undirected.…”

“…The importance of various network topologies in vehicle platoon systems has been reported in [6], [8]. Amongst the various network topologies used in vehicle platoon systems, the analysis of platoon control systems with undirected topology has piqued the interest of several researchers because vehicles in a platoon can share more information amongst themeselves thus improving the system's performance as reported in [6], [7], [9], [11]- [14]. However, inherent properties of wireless communication networks in platoon systems may lead to packet drops and/or delays in data transmissions among the vehicles [8], [15], [16] since reliability highly depends on bandwidth allocation, signal strength, etc.…”

“…Various controller design approaches such as model predictive control (MPC) [20], [21], sliding mode control (SMC) [13], [22], adaptive control [10], H ∞ control [7], [7], [9] etc. have been established to ensure closed-loop stability and cooperative motion either for homogeneous [9], [10], [23]- [25] or heterogeneous [20], [26], [27] vehicle platoon systems with and without complexities like external disturbances (due to wind gust, road slope etc.) [7], [13], [28], parametric uncertainties (due to, engine time constant, change in mass under different load etc.)…”

Empowering cyberphysical systems of systems with intelligence

“…Recently, there is a shift of focus from individual drive-assist technologies like power steering, antilock braking systems (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), adaptive cruise control (ACC) to features with a higher level of autonomy like collision avoidance, crash mitigation, autonomous drive and platooning. More importantly, grouping vehicles into platoons [51], [52] has received considerable interest, since it seems to be a promising strategy for efficient traffic management and road transportation, offering several benefits in highway and urban driving scenarios related to road safety, highway utility and fuel economy.…”

“…Similarly, a multi-vehicle cooperative control system is proposed in [55], [56] with a decentralized control structure, allowing each automated vehicle to conduct path planning and motion control separately. The authors in [51] present a robust decentralised state-feedback controller in the discretetime domain for vehicle platoons, considering identical vehicle dynamics with undirected topologies. An extensive study of their performance under random packet drop scenarios is also provided, highlighting their robustness in such conditions.…”