Robust local and string stability for a decentralized car following control strategy for connected automated vehicles

This paper presents a robust car-following control strategy under uncertainty for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). The proposed control is designed as a decentralized linear feedback and feedforward controller with a focus on robust local and string stability under (i) time-varying uncertain vehicle dynamics and (ii) time-varying uncertain communication delay. The former uncertainty is incorporated into the general longitudinal vehicle dynamics (GLVD) equation that regulates the difference between the desired acceleration (prescribed by the control model) and the actual acceleration by compensating for nonlinear vehicle dynamics (e.g., due to aerodynamic drag force). The latter uncertainty is incorporated into acceleration information received from the vehicle immediately ahead. As a primary contribution, this study derives and proves (i) a sufficient and necessary condition for local stability and (ii) sufficient conditions for robust string stability in the frequency domain using the Laplacian transformation. Simulation experiments verify the correctness of the mathematical proofs and demonstrate that the proposed control is effective for ensuring stability against uncertainties. Published by Elsevier Ltd.