CONTROLLING A PLATOON OF VEHICLES VIA A SECOND ORDER SLIDING MODE APPROACH

This paper presents the design of a longitudinal control system for a platoon of vehicles. The main objectives of an automatic vehicle following system are the increment of traffic capacity while improving safety and comfort. The distributed controllers, one for each vehicle, are designed relying on a simple nonlinear vehicle model. The chosen control technique is the so-called second order sliding mode control methodology. This choice is motivated by the robustness features of the sliding mode design, which are particularly appropriate dealing with the automotive context. Moreover, the proposed approach allows to circumvent the chattering problem, typical of sliding mode control. The individual vehicle stability and platoon stability are guaranteed by the proposed control system. This latter is tested in simulation considering a critical stop–and–go traffic situation.