Truck Platooning Based on Lead Vehicle Speed Profile Optimization and Artificial Physics

Several approaches to truck platooning over varying road topographies are introduced, evaluated, and compared. A simple, stochastic optimization procedure was applied to the lead vehicle speed profiles (covering sections of 10 km), resulting in average lead vehicle fuel savings of around 15.4% relative to standard cruise control. Moreover, several models involving artificial physics were evaluated for the actual platooning, i.e. for the motion of the vehicles following the lead vehicle, with the aim of minimizing the total fuel consumption of the entire platoon. One such model, based on modified artificial gravity, was found to slightly outperform a more standard approach involving adaptive cruise control, while maintaining safety and coherence of the platoon.