Distributed Model Predictive Control for Heterogeneous Platoons with Affine Spacing Policies and Arbitrary Communication Topologies

Michael H. Shaham, Taskin Padir

27th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 2024

This paper presents a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) algorithm for a heterogeneous platoon using arbitrary communication topologies, provided each vehicle can communicate with a preceding vehicle in the platoon. The proposed DMPC algorithm can accommodate any spacing policy that is affine in a vehicle's velocity, which includes constant distance or constant time headway spacing policies. By analyzing the total cost for the entire platoon, a sufficient condition is derived to ensure platoon asymptotic stability. Simulation experiments with a platoon of 50 vehicles and hardware experiments with a platoon of four 1/10th-scale vehicles validate the algorithm and compare performance under different spacing policies and communication topologies.

Video: