A Consensus-Based Approach for Platooning with Inter-Vehicular Communications and its Validation in Realistic Scenarios

Automated and coordinated vehicles' driving (platooning) is very challenging due to the multi-body control complexity and the presence of unreliable, time-varying wireless Inter-Vehicular Communication (IVC). We propose a novel controller for vehicle platooning based on consensus and analytically demonstrate its stability and dynamic properties. Traditional approaches assume the logical control topology as a constraint fixed a priori, and the control law is designed consequently; our approach makes the control topology a design parameter that can be exploited to reconfigure the controller depending on the needs and scenario characteristics. Furthermore, the controller automatically compensates outdated information caused by network losses and delays. The controller is implemented in PLEXE, a state of the art IVC and mobility simulator that includes basic building blocks for platooning. Analysis and simulations show the controller robustness and performance in several scenarios, including realistic propagation conditions with interference caused by other vehicles. We compare our approach against a controller taken from literature, which is generally considered among the most performing ones. Finally, we test the proposed controller by implementing the real dynamics (engine, transmission, braking systems, etc.) of heterogeneous vehicles in PLEXE and verifying that platoons remain stable and safe regardless of real life impairments that cannot be modeled in the analytic solution. The results show the ability of the proposed approach to maintain a stable string of realistic vehicles with different control-communication topologies even in the presence of strong interference, delays, and fading conditions, providing higher comfort and safety for platoon drivers.