Eco-driving operation of connected vehicle with V2I communication among multiple signalized intersections

Eco-driving through multiple intersections has significant fuel benefit for road transportation. Most existing studies assume that vehicles travel at a constant speed between intersections, which naturally leads to large errors in fuel prediction and trajectory planning. This article focuses on eco-driving operation through multiple signalized intersections considering more realistic powertrain dynamics, which directly contain the engine and the transmission as well as aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, and so on. This feature enables explicit descriptions of dynamic behaviors and fuel characteristics in acceleration, deceleration, and constant speed driving. An open-loop optimal control problem (OCP) is formulated to minimize fuel consumption between two red-signalized intersections, and the two- or three-stage operation rules are then proposed to approximate its optimal solution. The eco-driving of passing multiple intersections is then numerically solved by combining the two- or three-stage driving rule and the Dijkstra algorithm. This method can consider the acceleration and deceleration processes at each intersection and achieve improved fuel economy.