Data-driven rolling eco-speed optimization for autonomous vehicles

Journal article, 2024

In urban settings, fluctuating traffic conditions and closely spaced signalized intersections lead to frequent emergency acceleration, deceleration, and idling in vehicles. These maneuvers contribute to elevated energy use and emissions. Advances in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technologies allow autonomous vehicles (AVs) to perceive signals over long distances and coordinate with other vehicles, thereby mitigating environmentally harmful maneuvers. This paper introduces a data-driven algorithm for rolling eco-speed optimization in AVs aimed at enhancing vehicle operation. The algorithm integrates a deep belief network with a back propagation neural network to formulate a traffic state perception mechanism for predicting feasible speed ranges. Fuel consumption data from the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States serves as the basis for establishing the quantitative correlation between the fuel consumption rate and speed. A spatiotemporal network is subsequently developed to achieve eco-speed optimization for AVs within the projected speed limits. The proposed algorithm results in a 12.2% reduction in energy consumption relative to standard driving practices, without a significant extension in travel time.