Reducing congestion and emissions via roadside unit deployment under mixed traffic flow

It is expected that for a long time the future road trafc will be composed of both regular vehicles(RVs)and connected autonomous vehicles(CAVs).As a vehicle-to-infrastructure technology dedicated to facilitating CAV under the mixed trafc fow,roadside units(RSUs)can also improve the quality of information received by CAVs,thereby infuencing the routing behavior of CAV users.This paper explores the possibility of leveraging the RSU deployment to afect the route choices of both CAVs and RVs and the adoption rate of CAVs so as to reduce the network congestion and emissions.To this end,we frst establish a logit-based stochastic user equilibrium model to capture drivers’route choice and vehicle type choice behaviors provided the RSU deployment plan is given.Particularly,CAV users’perception error can be reduced by higher CAV penetration and denser RSUs deployed on the road due to the improved information quality.With the established equilibrium model,the RSU deployment problem is then formulated as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints.An active-set algorithm is presented to solve the deployment problem efciently.Numerical results suggest that an optimal RSU deployment plan can efectively drive the system towards one with lower network delay and emissions.

Lane-change path planning and control method for self-driving articulated trucks

Purpose–This study aims to develop an automatic lane-change mechanism on highways for self-driving articulated trucks to improve traffic safety.Design/methodology/approach–The authors proposed a novel safety lane-change path planning and tracking control method for articulated vehicles.A double-Gaussian distribution was introduced to deduce the lane-change trajectories of tractor and trailer coupling characteristics of intelligent vehicles and roads.With different steering and braking maneuvers,minimum safe distances were modeled and calculated.Considering safety and ergonomics,the authors invested multilevel self-driving modes that serve as the basis of decision-making for vehicle lane-change.Furthermore,a combined controller was designed by feedback linearization and single-point preview optimization to ensure the path tracking and robust stability.Specialized hardware in the loop simulation platform was built to verify the effectiveness of the designed method.Findings–The numerical simulation results demonstrated the path-planning model feasibility and controller-combined decision mechanism effectiveness to self-driving trucks.The proposed trajectory model could provide safety lane-change path planning,and the designed controller could ensure good tracking and robust stability for the closed-loop nonlinear system.Originality/value–This is a fundamental research of intelligent local path planning and automatic control for articulated vehicles.There are two main contributions:thefirst is a more quantifiable trajectory model for self-driving articulated vehicles,which provides the opportunity to adapt vehicle and scene changes.The second involves designing a feedback linearization controller,combined with a multi-objective decision-making mode,to improve the comprehensive performance of intelligent vehicles.This study provides a valuable reference to develop advanced driving assistant system and intelligent control systems for self-driving articulated vehicles.