Guaranteeing safety for heavy duty vehicle platooning: Safe set computations and experimental evaluations

•The minimum safe distance for heavy-duty vehicle platooning is given.•A game theoretical framework is proposed for safe set computations.•Empirical results on real heavy-duty vehicles validate the analytical framework.•Criteria are given for collision-avoidance in a worst-case scenario.•The safe distance depends on brake nonlinearities and information propagation delays.

In this paper, we consider the problem of finding a safety criteria between neighboring heavy duty vehicles traveling in a platoon. We present a possible framework for analyzing safety aspects of heavy duty vehicle platooning. A nonlinear underlying dynamical model is utilized, where the states of two neighboring vehicles are conveyed through radar information and wireless communication. Numerical safe sets are derived through the framework, under a worst-case scenario, and the minimum safe spacing is studied for heterogenous platoons. Real life experimental results are presented in an attempt to validate the theoretical results in practice. The findings show that a minimum relative distance of 1.2 m at maximum legal velocity on Swedish highways can be maintained for two identical vehicles without endangering a collision. The main conclusion is that the relative distance utilized in commercial applications today can be reduced significantly with a suitable automatic control system.