A Fleet of Miniature Cars for Experiments in Cooperative Driving

Abstract

We introduce a unique experimental testbed that consists of a fleet of 16 miniature Ackermann-steering vehicles. We are motivated by a lack of available low-cost platforms to support research and education in multi-car navigation and trajectory planning. This article elaborates the design of our miniature robotic car, the Cambridge Minicar, as well as the fleet's control architecture. Our experimental testbed allows us to implement state-of-the-art driver models as well as autonomous control strategies, and test their validity in a real, physical multi-lane setup. Through experiments on our miniature highway, we are able to tangibly demonstrate the benefits of cooperative driving on multi-lane road topographies. Our setup paves the way for indoor large-fleet experimental research.

[Retracted] Conceptual Implementation of Artificial Intelligent based E‐Mobility Controller in smart city Environment

“…These systems usually give the instructions about the design and implementation of a complex system but failed to integrate the control techniques of ITS. Already existing systems are not economically viable to take up the research for further development [10]. Certain testbeds are available for autonomous vehicles, but the results and findings need more clarity and such test system cannot be used for a wide range of systems [11].…”

A Physical Testbed for Intelligent Transportation Systems

“…Additionally, the WSN testbeds often deploy to real-world cities, which may be infeasible for certain researchers due to economic or regulatory constraints. The closest related work to ours involves researching autonomous driving with fleets of small-scale toy cars [3]. Their results successfully demonstrate the viability of using a low-cost, small-scale testbed for both egocentric and cooperative ITS research.…”

Demonstration of a time-efficient mobility system using a scaled smart city

“…Although previous work has shown promising results emphasizing the potential benefits of coordination of CAVs, validation has been primarily in simulation. Some progress has been made with constructing experimental testbeds, such as MIT's Duckietown [41], which focuses primarily on local perception and autonomy, and the Cambridge Minicars [42], which is a testbed for cooperative driving in highway conditions. In contrast, the UDSSC focuses on traffic coordination in an urban system, where a majority of stop-and-go driving occurs.…”