EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES IN VEHICLE AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL

THE REAL WORLD TESTING OF A VEHICLE'S AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM IN VARIOUS LEAD-CAR OVERTAKING AND CAR-FOLLOWING SITUATIONS IS DESCRIBED. THE PARTICULAR FIELD TESTS DESCRIBED WERE CONDUCTED FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 1967. IN ADDITION TO THE FIELD EXPERIMENT RESULTS, BACKGROUND MATERIAL INCLUDING THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENT FOR AN AUTOMATED LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM AND DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS WERE DISCUSSED IN DETAIL IN THIS REPORT. THE DESIGN CHOSEN FOR DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING CONSISTED OF A MULTI-MODE AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM, WITH THE MODE OF CONTROL DETERMINED BY THE CONTROLLED VEHICLE STATE (SPEED AND HEADWAY) WITH RESPECT TO A LEAD VEHICLE. THE LEAD -CAR OVERTAKING EXPERIMENTS WERE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE ABILITY OF THE AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM TO FUNNEL AN OVERTAKING VEHICLE INTO A STEADY-STATE, CAR- FOLLOWING SITUATION. IN THESE TESTS, THE MAXIMUM DIFFERENCE IN VELOCITY BETWEEN THE LEAD AND OVERTAKING CAR WAS LESS THAN 12 MPH. BESIDES THE OVERTAKING EXPERIMENTS, SEVERAL AUTOMATIC CAR-FOLLOWING STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED. THESE INCLUDED: (1) STUDYING THE AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM RESPONSE TO A LARGE VELOCITY DISTURBANCE, (2) TESTING THE ASYMPTOTIC STABILITY FOR A PLATOON OF FOUR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLED VEHICLES, AND (3) DETERMINING THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM. OVER ALL, ON THE BASIS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE AUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROL SYSTEM CAN SAFELY AND COMFORTABLY CONTROL A VEHICLE DURING LEAD-CAR OVERTAKING AND NORMAL CAR- FOLLOWING SITUATIONS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Hpr, Ees-276A, EES-276
• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  190 North Oval Drive
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210

  Bureau of Public Roads /US

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Ohio Department of Highways

  Columbus, OH  United States  43210
• Authors:
  • Bender, J G
• Publication Date: 1968-8

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic control; Car following; Field tests; Headways; Passing; Speed control; Vehicles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Longitudinal movement
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222571
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 29 1994 12:00AM