Evaluation of Control in a Convoy Scenario - LQR-based Sequential-state Feedback Controller

One of the best way to increase road capacity is to enable vehicles to travel in a convoy (or platoon) with short distance headways from preceding vehicles. The objective of this study is to present a control system which can optimally control a convoy of closely following vehicles for stop-and-go type of traffic. The convoy needs to be string stable and must have robust control to dampen any disturbance caused in any part of the convoy. We develop a Finite State Machine which acts as a supervisory controller to guide a following vehicle to merge behind and follow the vehicle ahead. After merging, the vehicle following controller is a linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) based sequential-state feedback controller proposed over thirty years ago. The performance is evaluated with a scenario based on a recent "Grand Cooperating Driving Challenge".