Communication Resource-Efficient Vehicle Platooning Control With Various Spacing Policies

Platooning represents one of the key features that connected automated vehicles may possess as it allows multiple automated vehicles to be maneuvered cooperatively with small headways on roads. However, a critical challenge in accomplishing automated vehicle platoons is to deal with the effects of intermittent and sporadic vehicle-to-vehicle data transmissions caused by limited wireless communication resources. This paper addresses the co-design problem of dynamic event-triggered communication scheduling and cooperative adaptive cruise control for a convoy of automated vehicles with diverse spacing policies. The central aim is to achieve automated vehicle platooning under various gap references with desired platoon stability and spacing performance requirements, while simultaneously improving communication efficiency. Toward this aim, a dynamic event-triggered scheduling mechanism is developed such that the intervehicle data transmissions are scheduled dynamically and efficiently over time. Then, a tractable co-design criterion on the existence of both the admissible event-driven cooperative adaptive cruise control law and the desired scheduling mechanism is derived. Finally, comparative simulation results are presented to substantiate the effectiveness and merits of the obtained results.

Theory and practice for assessing structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains

Purpose–The safety and reliability of high-speed trains rely on the structural integrity of their components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system.This paper aims to define and substantiate the assessment of the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains in both theory and practice.The key principles and approacheswill be proposed,and their applications to high-speed trains in Chinawill be presented.Design/methodology/approach–First,the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains are defined,and their relationship is introduced.Then,the principles for assessing the structural integrity of structural and dynamical components are presented and practical examples of gearboxes and dampers are provided.Finally,the principles and approaches for assessing the dynamical integrity of highspeed trains are presented and a novel operational assessment method is further presented.Findings–Vehicle system dynamics is the core of the proposed framework that provides the loads and vibrations on train components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system.For assessing the structural integrity of structural components,an open-loop analysis considering both normal and abnormal vehicle conditions is needed.For assessing the structural integrity of dynamical components,a closed-loop analysis involving the influence of wear and degradation on vehicle system dynamics is needed.The analysis of vehicle system dynamics should follow the principles of complete objects,conditions and indices.Numerical,experimental and operational approaches should be combined to achieve effective assessments.Originality/value–The practical applications demonstrate that assessing the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains can support better control of critical defects,better lifespan management of train components and better maintenance decision-making for high-speed trains.

LSTM-based lane change prediction using Waymo open motion dataset: The role of vehicle operating space

Lane change prediction is critical for crash avoidance but challenging as it requires the understanding of the instantaneous driving environment.With cutting-edge artificial intelligence and sensing technologies,autonomous vehicles(AVs)are expected to have exceptional perception systems to capture instantaneously their driving environments for predicting lane changes.By exploring the Waymo open motion dataset,this study proposes a framework to explore autonomous driving data and investigate lane change behaviors.In the framework,this study develops a Long Short-Term Memory(LSTM)model to predict lane changing behaviors.The concept of Vehicle Operating Space(VOS)is introduced to quantify a vehicle's instantaneous driving environment as an important indicator used to predict vehicle lane changes.To examine the robustness of the model,a series of sensitivity analysis are conducted by varying the feature selection,prediction horizon,and training data balancing ratios.The test results show that including VOS into modeling can speed up the loss decay in the training process and lead to higher accuracy and recall for predicting lane-change behaviors.This study offers an example along with a methodological framework for transportation researchers to use emerging autonomous driving data to investigate driving behaviors and traffic environments.

Parametric analysis of wheel wear in high-speed vehicles

In order to reduce the wheel profile wear of highspeed trains and extend the service life of wheels, a dynamic model for a high-speed vehicle was set up, in which the wheelset was regarded as flexible body, and the actual measured track irregularities and line conditions were considered. The wear depth of the wheel profile was calculated by the well-known Archard wear law. Through this model, the influence of the wheel profile, primary suspension stiffness, track gage, and rail cant on the wear of wheel profile were studied through multiple iterafive calculations. Numerical simulation results show that the type XP55 wheel profile has the smallest cumulative wear depth, and the type LM wheel profile has the largest wear depth. To reduce the wear of the wheel profile, the equivalent conicity of the wheel should not be too large or too small. On the other hand, a small primary vertical stiffness, a track gage around 1,435-1,438 mm, and a rail cant around 1：35-1：40 are beneficial for dynamic performance improvement and wheel wear alleviation.

Fault tolerant control for near space vehicle:a survey and some new results

A review on fault-tolerant control（FTC） for near space vehicle（NSV） is presented.First,the concept of near space is introduced,the background of NSV is emphasized,and the model characteristics of NSV in faulty case are investigated.Then,a comparison of different existing approaches is briefly carried out,and achievements on the current research in this field are also presented in the view of the practical application.Furthermore,several existing advanced FTC results for nonlinear flight control systems are given.Finally,the recent literature of NSV are presented to provide an overall view of future developments in this area.

Prescribed performance neural control to guarantee tracking quality for near space kinetic kill vehicle

A prescribed performance neural controller to guarantee tracking quality is addressed for the near space kinetic kill vehicle (NSKKV) to meet the state constraints caused by side window detection. Different from the traditional prescribed performance control in which the shape of the performance function is constant, this paper exploits new performance functions which can change the shape of their function according to different symbols of initial errors and can ensure the error convergence with a small overshoot. The neural backstepping control and the minimal learning parameters (MLP) technology are employed for exploring a prescribed performance controller (PPC) that provides robust tracking attitude reference trajectories. The highlight is that the transient performance of tracking errors is satisfactory and the computational load of neural approximation is low. The pseudo rate (PSR) modulator is used to shape the continuous control command to pulse or on-off signals to meet the requirements of the thruster. Numerical simulations show that the proposed method can achieve state constraints, pseudo-linear operation and high accuracy.

Adaptive sliding mode backstepping control for near space vehicles considering engine faults

A fault tolerant control methodology based adaptive sliding mode(ASM) backstepping is proposed for near space vehicle(NSV) attitude control system under engine faults. The proposed scheme combined adaptive backstepping with the sliding mode control strategy could guarantee the system’s stability and track desired signals under external disturbances and engine faults. Firstly, attitude mode description and the engine faulty model are given. Secondly, a nominal control law is designed.Thirdly, a sliding mode observer is given later in order to estimate both the information of engine faults and external disturbances. An adaptive sliding mode technology based on the previous nominal control law is developed via updating faulty parameters. Finally,analyze the system’s fault-tolerant performance and reliability through experiment simulation, which verifies the proposed design of fault-tolerant control can tolerate engine faults, as well as the strong robustness for external disturbance.

Switching disturbance rejection attitude control of near space vehicles with variable structure

A switching disturbance rejection attitude control law is proposed for a near space vehicle(NSV) with variable structure.The multiple flight modes, system uncertainties and disturbances of the NSV are taken into account based on switched nonlinear systems. Compared with traditional backstepping design methods,the proposed method utilizes the added integrals of attitude angle and angular rate tracking errors to further decrease the tracking errors. Moreover, to reduce the computation complexity, a rapid convergent differentiator is employed to obtain the derivative of the virtual control command. Finally, for disturbance rejection, based on the idea from the extended state observer(ESO), two disturbance observers are designed by using non-smooth functions to estimate the disturbances in the switched nonlinear systems. All signals of the closed-loop system are proven to be uniformly ultimately bounded under the Lyapunov function framework. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Aerodynamic/control integrated optimization method for unpowered high-speed vehicle configuration design

The unpowered high-speed vehicle experiences a significant coupling between the disciplines of aerodynamics and control due to its characteristics of high flight speed and extensive maneuverability within large airspace.The conventional aircraft conceptual design process follows a sequential design approach,and there is an artificial separation between the disciplines of aerodynamics and control,neglecting the coupling effects arising from their interaction.As a result,this design process often requires extensive iterations over long periods when applied to high-speed vehicles,and may not be able to effectively achieve the desired design objectives.To enhance the overall performance and design efficiency of high-speed vehicles,this study integrates the concept of Active Control Technology(ACT)from modern aircraft into the philosophy of aerodynamic/control integrated optimization.Two integrated optimization strategies,with differences in coupling granularity,have been developed.Subsequently,these strategies are put into action on a biconical vehicle that operates at Mach 5.The results reveal that the comprehensive performance of the synthesis optimal model derived from the aerodynamic/control integrated optimization strategy is improved by 31.76%and 28.29%respectively compared to the base model under high-speed conditions,demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of the method and optimization strategies employed.Moreover,in comparison to the single-stage strategy,the multi-stage strategy takes into deeper consideration the impact of control capacity.As a result,the control performance of the synthesis opti-mal model derived from the multi-stage strategy improves by 13.99%,whereas the single-stage strategy only achieves a 5.79%improvement.This method enables a fruitful interaction between aerodynamic configuration design and control system design,leading to enhanced overall performance and design efficiency.Furthermore,it improves the controllability of high-speed vehicles,mitigating the risk of mission failure resulting from an ineffective control system.

Hierarchical model updating for high-speed maglev vehicle/guideway coupled system based on multiobjective optimization

The high-speed maglev vehicle/guideway coupled model is an essential simulation tool for investigating vehicle dynamics and mitigating coupled vibration.To improve its accuracy efficiently,this study investigated a hierarchical model updating method integrated with field measurements.First,a high-speed maglev vehicle/guideway coupled model,taking into account the real effect of guideway material properties and elastic restraint of bearings,was developed by integrating the finite element method,multi-body dynamics,and electromagnetic levitation control.Subsequently,simultaneous in-site measurements of the vehicle/guideway were conducted on a high-speed maglev test line to analyze the system response and structural modal parameters.During the hierarchical updating,an Elman neural network with the optimal Latin hypercube sampling method was used to substitute the FE guideway model,thus improving the computational efficiency.The multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm with the gray relational projection method was applied to hierarchically update the parameters of the guideway layer and magnetic force layer based on the measured modal parameters and the electromagnet vibration,respectively.Finally,the updated coupled model was compared with the field measurements,and the results demonstrated the model’s accuracy in simulating the actual dynamic response,validating the effectiveness of the updating method.

Adaptive functional link network control of near-space vehicles with dynamical uncertainties

The control law design for a near-space hypersonic vehicle（NHV） is highly challenging due to its inherent nonlinearity,plant uncertainties and sensitivity to disturbances.This paper presents a novel functional link network（FLN） control method for an NHV with dynamical thrust and parameter uncertainties.The approach devises a new partially-feedback-functional-link-network（PFFLN） adaptive law and combines it with the nonlinear generalized predictive control（NGPC） algorithm.The PFFLN is employed for approximating uncertainties in flight.Its weights are online tuned based on Lyapunov stability theorem for the first time.The learning process does not need any offline training phase.Additionally,a robust controller with an adaptive gain is designed to offset the approximation error.Finally,simulation results show a satisfactory performance for the NHV attitude tracking,and also illustrate the controller＇s robustness.

The Orbital Error Analysis and Study of Space Vehicle Active Phase

In this paper we solve the three-dimensional coordinate that the satellite is relative to the geocentric coordinate under certain conditions, making use of the satellite orbit standard trajectory differential equations. By means of the method of tri-parametric equation fitting, we confirm the three-dimensional trajectory function of target flying object to geocentric coordinate in double satellites observation conditions, and analyze theoretical errors.

Research Progress in Aerospace Vehicles Propelled by Rocket-Based Combined Cycle Engines

The research status on the development of RBCC engines and corresponding aerospace vehicles around the world was overviewed,and the technical and application characteristics of RBCC technology were summarized.New development trends of combined cycle engines as well as space transportation were analyzed,and lastly,some suggestions on the development of RBCC and the relative aerospace vehicles were proposed.

Vehicle Planar Motion Stability Study for Tyres Working in Extremely Nonlinear Region

Many researches on vehicle planar motion stability focus on two degrees of freedom（2DOF） vehicle model, and only the lateral velocity （or side slip angle） and yaw rate are considered as the state variables. The stability analysis methods, such as phase plane analysis, equilibriums analysis and bifurcation analysis, are all used to draw many classical conclusions. It is concluded from these researches that unbounded growth of the vehicle motion during unstable operation is untrue in reality thus one limitation of the 2DOF model. The fundamental assumption of the 2DOF model is that the longitudinal velocity is treated as a constant, but this is intrinsically incorrect. When tyres work in extremely nonlinear region, the coupling between the vehicle longitudinal and lateral motion becomes significant. For the purpose of solving the above problem, the effect of vehicle longitudinal velocity on the stability of the vehicle planar motion when tyres work in extremely nonlinear region is investigated. To this end, a 3DOF model which introducing the vehicular longitudinal dynamics is proposed and the 3D phase space portrait method is employed for visualization of vehicle dynamics. Through the comparisons of the 2DOF and 3DOF models, it is discovered that the vehicle longitudinal velocity greatly affects the vehicle planar motion, and the vehicle dynamics represented in phase space portrait are fundamentally different from that of the 2DOF model. The vehicle planar motion with different front wheel steering angles is further represented by the corresponding vehicle route, yaw rate and yaw angle. These research results enhance the understanding of the stability of the vehicle system particularly during nonlinear region, and provide the insight into analyzing the attractive region and designing the vehicle stability controller, which will be the topics of future works.

Influence of Vehicle Parameters on Critical Hunting Speed Based on Ruzicka Model

While introducing foreign advanced technology and cooperating with Chinese famous research institutes,the high-speed vehicles are designed and take the major task of passenger transport in China.In high-speed vehicle,the characteristic of shock absorber is an important parameter which determines overall behavior of the vehicle.The most existing researches neglect the influence of the series stiffness of the shock absorber on the vehicle dynamic behavior and have one-sided views on the equivalent conicity of wheel tread.In this paper,a high speed passenger vehicle in China is modeled to investigate the effect of the parameters taking series hydraulic shock absorber stiffness into consideration on Ruzicka model.Using the vehicle dynamic model,the effect of main suspension parameters on critical speed is studied.In order to verify the reasonableness of shock absorber parameter settings,vibration isolation characteristics are calculated and the relationship between suspension parameters and the vehicle critical hunting speed is studied.To study the influence of equivalent conicity on vehicle dynamic behavior,a series of wheel treads with different conicities are set and the vehicle critical hunting speeds with different wheel treads are calculated.The discipline between the equivalent conicity of wheel tread and critical speed are obtained in vehicle nonlinear system.The research results show that the critical speed of vehicle much depends on wheelset positioning stiffness and anti-hunting motion damper,and the series stiffness produces notable effect on the vehicle dynamic behavior.The critical speed has a peak value with the equivalent conicity increasing,which is different from the traditional opinion in which the critical speed will decrease with the conicity increasing.The relationship between critical speed and conicity of wheel tread is effected by the suspension parameters of the vehicle.The study results obtained offer a method and useful data to designing the parameters of the high speed vehicle and simulation study.

Progress in high-speed train technology around the world

This is a review of high-speed train development in the sense of technology advances all over the world. Three generations of high-speed trains are classified according to their technical characteristics and maximum operating speed. Emphasis is given to the newly developed high-speed train in China, CRH380. The theoretical foundations and future development of CRH380 are briefly discussed.

Damage Tolerance Assessment of a Brake Unit Bracket for High-Speed Railway Welded Bogie Frames

The brake unit bracket of a bogie frame is an important load-carrying component, particularly under emergency start/stop conditions. Conventional infinite/safe life approaches provide an over-conservative recommendation for the allowable strength and lifetime, which hinders the lightweight design of modern railway vehicles. In this study, to ensure the reliability and durability of a brake unit bracket, an attempt was made to integrate the nominal stress method and an advanced damage tolerance method. First, a complex bogie frame was modelled using solid elements instead of plate and beam elements. A hot spot stress region on the bracket was found under an eight-stage load spectrum obtained from the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway line. Based on the probability of foreign damage, a semi-elliptical surface crack was then assumed for residual life assessment. The results obtained by the cumulative damage and damage tolerance methods show that the brake unit bracket can operate for over 30 years. Moreover, even if a 2-mm depth crack exists, the brake unit bracket can be safely operated for more than 2.27 years, with the hope that the crack can be detected in subsequent maintenance procedures. Finally, an appropriate safety margin was suggested which provides a basis for the life prediction and durability assessment of brake unit brackets of high-speed railways.

On String Stable Control of Platoon of Automated Vehicles with Predecessor-successor Information Framework

For the constant distance spacing policy,the existing researches of the string stability focus on the single-predecessor information framework（SPIF） and predecessor-successor information framework（PSIF）.The research results demonstrated that the string stability could not be guaranteed with the SPIF,and then the PSIF was proposed to resolve this string instability.But the issue,whether the string stability can be guaranteed when applying the PSIF,is still controversial.Meanwhile,most of the previous researches on the string stability were conducted without consideration of the parasitic time delays and lags.In this paper,the practical longitudinal vehicle dynamics model is built with consideration of the parasitic time delays and lags existing in the actuators,sensors or the communication systems.Secondly,the detailed theoretical analysis of string stability in frequency domain is conducted to demonstrate that the classical linear control laws can not ensure the string stability when applying both the symmetrical PSIF（SPSIF） and asymmetrical PSIF（APSIF）.Thirdly,a control law,which adds the position and velocity information of the leading vehicle,is proposed to guarantee string stability for small/medium platoon,and the other control law,which adds the acceleration information of the controlled vehicle,is proposed to guarantee string stability for large platoon as well as small/medium platoon.Finally,the comparative simulation is conducted to confirm the conducted analysis and the proposed control laws.The conducted research completes the means to analyze the string stability in frequency domain,provides the parameters＇ reference for the design and implementation of the practical automatic following controllers,and improves the reliability and stability of the platoon of automatic vehicles.

Low Cost and Reusability of Launch Vehicle

This paper analyzes the launch price of the launch vehicles, domestic and abroad, studies the status and trend of the low cost launch vehicles, and introduces two measures to reduce the cost by means of evolved and disruptive technologies, utilizing the concept of low cost manufacturing and operating modes as well. This paper also analyzes the launch strategies for small satellites such as piggyback, networking launch, and single launch with a small launch vehicle(SLV). Finally, the development trend of reusable launch vehicles is discussed as well as the development prospects for China's reusable launch vehicle.

Development of new electromagnetic suspension-based high-speed Maglev vehicles in China:Historical and recent progress in the field of dynamical simulation

High-speed Maglev is a cutting-edge technology brought back into the focus of research by plans of the Chinese government for the development of a new 600 km/h Maglev train.A Chinese‐German cooperation with industrial and academic partners has been established to pursue this ambitious goal and bring together experts from multiple disciplines.This contribution presents the joint work and achievements of CRRC Qingdao Sifang,thyssenkrupp Transrapid,CDFEB,and the ITM of the University of Stuttgart,regarding research and development in the field of high‐speed Maglev systems.Furthermore,an overview is given of the historical development of the Transrapid in Germany,the associated development of dynamical simulation models,and recent developments regarding high-speed Maglev trains in China.