Longitudinal guidance and control for the entry of vehicles onto automated highways

This paper considers AHS transitional situations concerning the entry of vehicles onto automated highways, e.g., an on-ramp vehicle is to rendezvous with a designated gap on the highway at a merging point; or a vehicle in the transition lane is to pursue a target gap in the automated lane and intercept it smoothly at an automated highway entry gate. The authors propose a scheme which guides and controls the longitudinal motion of the pursuit vehicle so as to reach the target gap at the merging point. This scheme ensures that the vehicles not only intercept the gap, but also do so smoothly by matching their speeds. The authors assume that the absolute longitudinal position and speed of the pursuit vehicle and its target gap can be monitored or estimated continuously for feedback. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions are given so that pursuability of a target gap by an entering vehicle can be determined. Ride quality, speed limits as well as vehicle engine limitations are also taken into account