Optimal Speed Trajectory for a Heavy Duty Truck Under Varying Requirements

The optimal speed trajectory for a heavy duty truck is calculated by using the Pontryagin’s maximum principle. The truck motion depends on controllable tractive and braking forces and external forces such as air and rolling resistance and road slope. The solution is subject to restrictions such as maximum power and position dependent speed restrictions. The intended application is driving in environments with varying requirements on the velocity due to e.g. legal limits and traffic. In order to limit the vehicle to a speed trajectory that follows the normal traffic flow, data from real truck operation have been analysed and used for setting upper and lower boundaries for the decelerations. To evaluate the solution, simulations have been performed on a segment of a road normally used as a distribution test cycle. Three different policies were compared where the solution adopts to free optimization, optimization following traffic flow and finally cruise control using look-ahead control. Results from the simulations show that fuel consumption and trip time can be reduced simultaneously while following the traffic flow.QC 20170302