Adaptive Collision-Free Trajectory Tracking Control for String Stable Bidirectional Platoons

Autonomous vehicle (AV) platoons, especially those with the bidirectional communication topology, have significant practical value, as they not only increase link capacity and reduce vehicle energy consumption, but also reduce the consumption of communication resources. Small gaps between AVs in a platoon easily lead to emergency braking or even collisions between consecutive AVs. This paper applies barrier Lyapunov functions to collision avoidance between AVs in a bidirectional platoon during trajectory tracking. Based on backstepping technique, an adaptive collision-free platoon trajectory tracking control algorithm is developed to distributedly design control laws for each AV in the platoon. The control algorithm does not need to introduce additional car-following models to simulate AV driving, and only needs to integrate the position trajectories of consecutive AVs to avoid inter-vehicle collisions. Two sign functions are introduced into the control laws of each AV to ensure strong string stability for bidirectional AV platoons. Moreover, uncertainties and external disturbances in vehicle motion are effectively compensated by introducing adaptation laws. Strong string stability is rigorously proved. CarSIM-based comparison simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm in avoiding inter-vehicle collisions, compensating for uncertainties in vehicle motion, and suppressing the amplification of spacing errors along the platoon.