A NEW CONTROL APPROACH FOR PLATOON OPERATIONS DURING VEHICLE EXIT ENTRY

A new platoon control concept is introduced, called Back Control, in w hich the controller of a given vehicle utilizes state information from the lead, preceding, and following vehicles, as well as the vehicle i tself. Simulations are carried out on two non-steady state platoon ope rations - vehicle exit and vehicle entry from a platoon. A previously developed longitudinal controller is utilized as a reference to the pr oposed Back controller and a ride quality index is used to assess pass enger comfort in these simulations. It is shown that the Back controll er has advantages over the reference controller in these two operation s and that it is therefore worth examining as a candidate controller o f vehicular platoons, especially in non-nominal operations.