Dynamic Platoon Spacing Control for Fuel Economy and Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for managing inter-vehicle distance in platooning vehicles lack flexibility and do not effectively balance safety and fuel efficiency, as they do not account for various external and vehicle-specific factors, leading to suboptimal performance in different conditions.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a data collection and communication module to aggregate external and vehicle-specific parameters, adjusting the inter-vehicle distance based on a Platoon_Spacing_Factor to optimize fuel savings while ensuring safety, allowing for variable distances between vehicles within a platoon.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a small distance or spacing is maintained between platooned vehicles, then fuel consumption is reduced, but safety is compromised due to insufficient reaction time and stopping distance
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the inter-vehicle distance based on real-time conditions rather than maintaining a fixed spacing. The following distance is modified by a platoon spacing factor that responds to environmental conditions, vehicle characteristics, and operational parameters, enabling the system to optimize fuel efficiency while maintaining safety margins adaptively
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the critical parameter of inter-vehicle distance based on multiple input factors including weather conditions, roadway characteristics, vehicle aerodynamic properties, and performance capabilities. By varying this parameter dynamically, the system achieves optimal balance between fuel savings and safety requirements under different operating conditions
2Reliability
If a fixed minimum following distance is maintained, then safety is ensured, but fuel efficiency is reduced due to inability to optimize spacing
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from static fixed-distance platooning to dynamic distance adjustment. A platoon spacing factor is calculated based on real-time assessment of environmental conditions, vehicle characteristics, and operational parameters, allowing the following distance to be optimized continuously while maintaining safety thresholds
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops that continuously monitor multiple parameters including weather conditions, roadway characteristics, vehicle aerodynamic properties, and performance capabilities. This feedback is used to recalculate and adjust the optimal following distance, ensuring both safety and fuel efficiency are maintained under changing conditions
3Loss of energy
If the platoon spacing is reduced for maximum fuel savings, then energy consumption decreases, but the system becomes more sensitive to external condition variations
Solution Approach 1:
The system adjusts the inter-vehicle distance parameter based on multiple external and internal factors including weather conditions, roadway characteristics, vehicle aerodynamic properties, and performance capabilities. This parameter adaptation enables the system to maintain optimal spacing while compensating for variations in external conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary assessment of multiple factors including vehicle aerodynamic properties, performance capabilities, and environmental conditions to pre-calculate an optimal platoon spacing factor. This preliminary action allows the system to proactively adjust spacing before adverse conditions arise, maintaining both fuel efficiency and adaptability
Data Source
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AI summary
Inter-vehicle platoon distance management is provided. Parameters relating to external conditions are used together with vehicle physical characteristics, performance information, and other factors to select an optimized distance between vehicle pairs traveling as a platoon. The parameters relating to the external conditions are aggregated by the following vehicle of the platoon vehicle pair, and used to adjust or otherwise modify a predetermined minimum following distance parameter. This allows flexibility in the platooning control to follow at different distances while maintaining an overall fuel economy benefit of the platoon. When no external condition restrictions exist, the platoon vehicles follow at the shortest distance to maximize fuel economy. However, as the aggregated external conditions increase, the platooning distance is extended to improve safety while preserving as much fuel economy benefit of the platoon as possible.