Energy Efficiency Evaluation of Automatic Driving Control for Passing through Intersection

Abstract

This paper reports on the energy saving effect of autonomous driving control at intersections. An intersection is defined as a point at which traffic lanes in several directions coexist. Intersections are prone to higher congestion and a higher incidence of traffic accidents because of heavy traffic. Therefore, the traffic flow at intersections is controlled by incidental equipment. On roads carrying a light amount of traffic, the flow is controlled by stop lines, whereas on roads carrying medium and heavy amounts of traffic, the traffic flow is controlled by traffic signals and overpasses, respectively. However, these incidental facilities are not always the most efficient way to control the traffic flow. These facilities would never be removed as long as vehicles are driven manually, and they would never be able to optimize traffic flow at an affordable cost. On the other hand, autonomous driving of vehicles would optimize the traffic flow by implementing vehicle-tovehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure cooperation. Currently, there is a need for the quantitative evaluation of the impact of advanced vehicle control in support of global developments in vehicle automation. This prompted our study, which involves a quantitative evaluation of the energy saving effect of automatic driving control for passing though intersections, which we have developed. This paper first provides background information surrounding vehicle automation. Related work on automatic driving control for passing through intersections and on vehicle control for energy conservation is introduced, after which relating technological issues are clarified. Subsequently, a vehicular behavior model designed to evaluate the extent to which automatic driving control for passing through intersections is able to save energy, is specified. Finally, we report the results of a simulation evaluation using the vehicular behavior model. The experimental evaluation certifies that automatic driving control for passing through an intersection conserves more energy than traffic control signals.