Citation

Wang M, Treiber M, Daamen W, Hoogendoorn SP, van Arem B. Transp. Res. C Emerg. Technol. 2013; 36: 547-563.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trc.2013.06.012

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Driver assistance systems support drivers in operating vehicles in a safe, comfortable and efficient way, and thus may induce changes in traffic flow characteristics. This paper puts forward a receding horizon control framework to model driver assistance and cooperative systems. The accelerations of automated vehicles are controlled to optimise a cost function, assuming other vehicles driving at stationary conditions over a prediction horizon. The flexibility of the framework is demonstrated with controller design of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Cooperative ACC (C-ACC) systems. The proposed ACC and C-ACC model characteristics are investigated analytically, with focus on equilibrium solutions and stability properties. The proposed ACC model produces plausible human car-following behaviour and is unconditionally locally stable. By careful tuning of parameters, the ACC model generates similar stability characteristics as human driver models. The proposed C-ACC model results in convective downstream and absolute string instability, but not convective upstream string instability observed in human-driven traffic and in the ACC model. The control framework and analytical results provide insights into the influences of ACC and C-ACC systems on traffic flow operations.