FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES IN THE LONGITUDINAL CONTROL OF AUTOMATED GROUND VEHICLES

Four essential aspects of the longitudinal control of vehicles in an automated, individual-vehicle system are considered here: a) Sector-level control; b) Communications between each controlled vehicle and the sector computer; c) The development of techniques for obtaining extremely accurate estimates of a vehicle's state; and d) The control of each individual vehicle. The emphasis was on the design, development and testing of hardware subsystems essential for implementing these facets in the context of high-speed (to 93 ft/sec or 28 m/s), small time-headway (1-2 sec) operation. The accomplishments over the second year of a two-year study include: a) The development and field evaluation of techniques for obtaining accurate estimates of vehicle position and instantaneous speed--plus or minus .05 ft in 10 ft (plus or minus .015m in 3.05m) and plus or minus 0.7 ft/sec (plus or minus 0.21 m/s), respectively for one of the three approaches evaluated; b) The development of validated models for both the propulsion and braking dynamics of a typical U.S. sedan; c) The design and field testing of a vehicle controller which provided good tracking and a comfortable ride; and d) The specification of both minimal and realistic requirements for sector-level communications.

• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  Department of Electrical Engineering, Transportation Control Lab
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210
• Authors:
  • Fenton, R E
  • Olson, K W
  • Mayhan, R J
  • TAKASAKI, G M
• Publication Date: 1976-12

Media Info

• Pagination: 192 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic control; Braking; Communications; Computers; Headways; Motor vehicles; Propulsion; Specifications; Speed; Traffic speed; Vehicle power plants; Vehicles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Propulsion systems
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00179492
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-77- 28 Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-8874
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 27 1988 12:00AM