FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES IN AUTOMATIC VEHICLE CONTROL

During the past year, which was the final one on a 3-year program, the research efforts were focused principally on the continuing development of a physical test facility which was employed to study control and communication problems at, and below, the sector level. This was done in the context of high-speed (to 26.8 m/s) operations at time headways as small as 1 s. The principal accomplishments during this final year were: (1) The selection of a sector-level control concept, the design and implementation of hardware required for sector-level operations, and the choice of geometrics over which online control would be realized; (2) The development and successful field evaluation of a sector computer-to-controlled vehicle communication link; (3) The design, development, and field evaluation (with very promising results) of a "radar" approach to lateral control; and (4) The design and field evaluation of a vehicle longitudinal controller which provided excellent performance--a small-position error, a comfortable ride, and a relative insensitivity to disturbance forces--on a consistent basis over a wide range of environmental conditions. The secondary accomplishments included the construction of a sidewall structure for radar steering, and the implementation (and successful field evaluation) of previously designed lateral and longitudinal controllers with microprocessor-based units. (FHWA)

• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  Transportation Control Laboratory
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Research, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Fenton, R
  • Mayhan, R
  • Bishel, R
  • Kneifel, R
  • Magee, R
  • Murthy, S
  • Rakocy, L
  • Smith, R
  • Thayer, L
• Publication Date: 1981-8

Media Info

• Pagination: 296 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced vehicle control systems; Communication systems; Headways; High speed ground transportation; High speed vehicles; Microprocessors; Radar devices; Speed; Steering
• Old TRIS Terms: Automatic vehicle control
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00377228
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-80-198 Final Rpt., FCP 32J1-032
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-9257
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 30 1983 12:00AM