Advancing Platooning with ADAS Control Integration and Assessment Test Results

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The application of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) to heavy-duty trucks known as truck platooning has shown fuel economy improvements over test track ideal driving conditions. However, there are limited test data available to assess the performance of CACC under real-world driving conditions. As part of the Cummins-led U.S. Department of Energy Funding Opportunity Announcement award project, truck platooning with CACC has been tested under real-world driving conditions and the results are presented in this paper. First, real-world driving conditions are characterized with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Fleet DNA database to define the test factors. The key test factors impacting long-haul truck fuel economy were identified as terrain and highway traffic with and without advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Track and on-highway testing guided by SAE J1321 procedures were conducted to assess truck platooning operation under the characterized real-world driving conditions. On-highway testing is done on a route in Indiana representing operation of long-haul Class 8 trucks in the United States. The road includes low-, medium-, and high-grade segments. The highway test results of a two-truck platooning configuration indicate considerable fuel-saving reduction comparing to the test track data collected under ideal driving conditions. The test data indicate that platooning could lead to increases in fuel consumption during traffic or high-grade portions of the route, causing reduction of the overall fuel saving on the road comparing to test track results. However, integration of ADAS features on the lead truck during on-road tests leads to significant improvement of fuel saving for both trucks in CACC operation.</div></div>

Advances in Vehicle and Powertrain Efficiency of Long-Haul Commercial Vehicles: A Review

“…In platooning, solely relying on CACC over high-grade sections results in a negative FE impact for the following trucks. Because trailing trucks struggle to maintain the target distance from the lead truck, this leads to increased acceleration for re-engaging [109]. The integration of CACC with DATP systems, including predictive cruise control and neutral coasting, yields at least a 4% FE improvement for platooning trucks in high-grade hilly sections compared to CACC alone without DATP [109,110].…”

“…Because trailing trucks struggle to maintain the target distance from the lead truck, this leads to increased acceleration for re-engaging [109]. The integration of CACC with DATP systems, including predictive cruise control and neutral coasting, yields at least a 4% FE improvement for platooning trucks in high-grade hilly sections compared to CACC alone without DATP [109,110]. Further investigation is needed to determine the exact fuel savings for lead and following trucks during platooning [103,111,112].…”

Considerate and Cooperative Model Predictive Control for Energy-Efficient Truck Platooning of Heterogeneous Fleets

“…This paper is motivated by recent experimental results observed on the highway when engaging a classically-designed CACC for platooning trucks [5]. In this, several freight trucks of same mass and hardware specifications were deployed in a platooning configuration to travel a route with expected road grade and traffic conditions for heavy-duty long-haul truck applications.…”

“…Section II identified challenges in automation and deployment for truck platooning on real roads when using traditional classes of control. In particular, transient operation under highway conditions was identified to lead to dissolution of the platoon -stemming from heavy road grade and heterogeneous loading and hardware conditions [5].…”

“…consumption under a closed-loop test track. However, experimental performance of classical CACC platooning under real-world conditions is further studied in [5] when tasked to compensate for real-world driving conditions including road grade and traffic cycles. The real-world test results in this study expose some problematic performance in traditional CACC approaches when under heavy disturbances that are not properly compensated, and can completely remove the benefits of platooning a truck convoy.…”