Enhancing Vehicle Convoy Safety and Comfort through Model Predictive Control-based Variable Inter-vehicular Spacing

This study delves into the analysis of the Information Flow Topology (IFT) of vehicle convoy communication, specifically comparing two conventional convoy types with a model predictive control (MPC) approach. The problem to be addressed is the development of an MPC-based two-vehicle convoy system to regulate the follower-vehicle in a convoy scenario. The focus is on improving safety and passenger comfort through enhanced control of inter-vehicular spacing and prediction of human-like driving behavior within the convoy system. The controlled vehicle in the proposed model exhibited significant improvements in maintaining variable spacing of 112.0 m, 73.0 and 31.0 m from the lead-vehicle, predecessor-vehicle, and rear-vehicle respectively. Jerk values were reduced to 0.05 ms- and 0.02 ms- compared to the two conventional convoy setups. By incorporating behavioral prediction into the control strategy, the proposed model demonstrated a more human-like driving behaviour, addressing safety concerns and enhancing passenger comfort within the convoy.