Platoon Control based on Predecessor and Delayed Leader Information

Other conference contribution, 2016

The platoon control problem is considered with a leader and predecessor following scheme. A novel velocity-dependent spacing policy is integrated into this scheme in order to improve robustness against the communication delay with the leader. The velocity dependence is adjusted in this scheme with a scalar parameter that appears as the constant time headway in the standard predecessor following scheme. The design problem is considered with a first-order vehicle model and a simple PD-type controller. It is shown that formation stability can always be ensured with sufficient emphasis on the predecessor information. On the other hand, string stability can be achieved only when the headway parameter is chosen larger than the communication delay. It is also outlined how the feedback gains and the emphasis on the leader can be adjusted for desirable performance.