IBLF‐based lanes merging control for vehicle platoon with prescribed performances

Abstract

The lanes merging control is discussed in this paper for the vehicle platoon while the distance as well as bearing angle constraints among the adjacent vehicles are considered. Differing from the existing strategies, some practical concerns are discussed and dealt with in the controller design. First, to lower the dependence on an accurate system model, an ultra‐local model‐based system description is given. Moreover, an adaptive sliding mode disturbance observer is hence constructed so as to offset the lumped disturbance in the newly transformed system. Second, we divide the multi‐lane fusion target into two parts, namely the distance keeping and bearing angle tracking. Specifically, the distance keeping rules are ensured by utilizing the interval expression‐based prescribed performance control and the newly designed time‐varying integral barrier Lyapunov function. As for the bearing angle tracking, the constraints on the bearing angle and the vehicle's angular velocity are guaranteed by the integral barrier Lyapunov function. In addition to these, the event‐triggered control scheme is also considered during the distance keeping and bearing angle tracking so as to reduce the communication burden. Finally, simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the given control strategy.