Parameter-space-based robust control of heterogeneous platoon with stochastic packet dropout

This paper presents a parameter-space-based multi-objective, robust CACC platooning controller for a heterogeneous vehicular platoon with stochastic packet dropout during inter-vehicular communication. The parameter space approach is adopted to optimise the gains of the robust controller, to handle the multiplicative uncertainty and to project the robust performance requirements. The feasible region where internal stability and preceding vehicle following accuracy are satisfied is then visualised in the parameter space. Subsequently, the robust controller, which combines the feedforward loop and feedback loop, is developed by selecting the gain from the feasible solution area. The simulation results of a six-vehicle heterogeneous platoon are presented and evaluated to verify the efficiency of this control algorithm. The results show that string stability and comfort are well guaranteed by this robust controller, even for the heterogeneous platoon with stochastic packet dropout and the following error is limited to an acceptable range.