Horizon Length and Fuel Equivalents for Fuel-optimal Look-ahead Control

Recent studies from several authors show that it is possible to lower the fuel consumption for heavy trucks by utilizing information about the road topography ahead of the vehicle. The approach in these studies is receding horizon control where horizon length and residual cost are main topics. To approach these topics, fuel equivalents previously introduced based on physical intuition are given a mathematical interpretation in terms of Lagrange multipliers. Measures for the suboptimality, caused by the truncated horizon and the residual cost approximation, are defined and evaluated for different routes and parameters.