Fundamental Studies in the Longitudinal Control of Automated Ground Vehicles

1976Final ReportFrank OkanoPDFTech ReportFHWA-RD-77-28, RF 4302, RF 4302 A1-1DOT-FH-11-8874Floating car dataAdvanced vehicle control systemsLongitudinal controlTraffic congestionTraffic dataAutomated highway systemsDual mode vehiclesAutomated vehicle control for ground vehiclesAutomated Ground VehiclesFloating car dataTraffic dataTraffic congestionHighwaysOperations and traffic managementAutomatic longitudinal controlInformational sourceSector communicationsSector computerUnited StatesOhioUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentFenton, R. E.Olson, K. W.Mayhan, R. J.Takasaki, G. M.Ohio State University. Transportation Control LaboratoryUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Offices of Research and DevelopmentFederal Highway AdministrationFour essential aspects of the longitudinal control of vehicles in an automated, individual-vehicle system are considered here: a) Sector-level control; b) Communications between each controlled vehicle and the sector computer; c) The development of techniques for obtaining extremely accurate estimates of a vehicle's state; and d) The control of each individual vehicle. The emphasis was on the design, development and testing of hardware subsystems essential for implementing these facets in the context of high-speed (to 93 ft/sec or 28 ra/s), small time-headway (1-2 sec) operation. The accomplishments over the second year of a two-year study include: a) The development and field evaluation of techniques for obtaining accurate estimates of vehicle position and instantaneous speed \u2014 \ub1 .05 ft in 10 ft (\ub1 .015m in 3.05m) and \ub1 0.7 ft/sec (\ub1 0.21 m/s), respectively for one of the three approaches evaluated; b) The development of validated models for both the propulsion and braking dynamics of a typical U.S. sedan; c) The design and field testing of a vehicle controller which provided good tracking and a comfortable ride; and d) The specification of both minimal and realistic requirements for sector- level communications