Operational Characteristics and Eco-Safe Influence of Connected Mixed Platoon in Car-Following Event

Considering the current maturity level of autonomous technology and the general public’s acceptance of this technology, the connected mixed platoon mode may be a practical transitional strategy prior to the widespread deployment of fully autonomous platoons. To study the influence of connected condition and platoon mode on the operational characteristics and eco-safe influence of connected mixed platoon, this paper constructed a connected mixed platoon mode consisting of five vehicles: a human-driven leader vehicle equipped with an L2 connected driving assistance system, followed by connected autonomous vehicles. Thirty-six participants were invited to participate in driving simulation experiments using the developed test platform. Given that time-domain analysis focuses on the variation of indicators in the time dimension, while frequency-domain analysis can explore the frequency distribution characteristics of indicators, this paper analyzed vehicle operation characteristics from the time and frequency domain dimensions with indicators of speed, acceleration, fuel consumption and speed safety entropy. The results show that both the connected condition and the platoon mode contribute to stable vehicle operation and significantly enhance their eco-safety. Compared with the traditional single-vehicle mode, the connected mixed platoon has the best comprehensive efficiency and can reduce the fuel consumption by 10. 67% and the speed safety entropy by 73. 25%. The research results can provide scheme reference and platform support for autonomous driving enterprises and industries in executing connected HMI design, navigate on autopilot (NOA) development, and the feasibility and effectiveness test of connected mixed platoon. © 2024 South China University of Technology. All rights reserved.