Vehicle Platoon Gap Coordination for Safe Highway Merging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Coordinated vehicle groups on multi-lane roads pose challenges for vehicles entering or exiting, as they represent a long obstacle, leading to safety concerns and increased control effort due to the need for sharp braking or acceleration, and existing solutions either disrupt coordination or result in unnecessary regulation of target distances.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle group is permanently divided into sub-groups with a predetermined entry distance, allowing vehicles to safely enter or exit by maintaining a consistent gap, which is determined based on the geometric dimensions of potential cutting-in vehicles, ensuring safe passage without disrupting the coordinated driving of the group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the vehicle convoy maintains coordinated driving with reduced target distances to save fuel and improve efficiency, then energy efficiency and productivity are improved, but vehicles entering or exiting the highway face safety risks due to the long obstacle effect
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle convoy is divided into multiple sub-convoys with different target distance settings. Leading sub-convoys maintain reduced target distances for fuel efficiency, while following sub-convoys maintain increased target distances to create safe merging gaps, thus segmenting the convoy to simultaneously achieve energy efficiency and safety
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the convoy are assigned different target distance characteristics. The leading sub-convoys have reduced target distances (coordinated driving mode) while following sub-convoys have increased target distances (safety buffer mode), creating local quality variations within the overall convoy structure
2Reliability
If the vehicle convoy is automatically dissolved at motorway entrances or exits to allow safe lane changes, then safety for merging vehicles is improved, but coordination and fuel efficiency are lost and control effort increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of dissolving the entire convoy, only the following sub-convoys are positioned at entrances/exits to provide safety buffers, while leading sub-convoys maintain coordinated driving. This segmentation allows safety without losing overall coordination
Solution Approach 2:
The following sub-convoys act as intermediary safety buffers between the leading coordinated sub-convoys and merging vehicles. They provide the necessary safety distance for merging vehicles while allowing the main convoy to maintain coordination and fuel efficiency
3Reliability
If the vehicle convoy is temporarily divided into sub-platoons at entrances and exits to facilitate merging, then safety for merging vehicles is improved, but unnecessary regulation of target distances occurs when no vehicle is merging
Solution Approach 1:
The convoy is pre-divided into leading and following sub-convoys with predetermined target distance relationships before reaching entrances or exits. This preliminary structuring allows automatic adaptation to merging situations without requiring active detection or temporary reconfiguration, avoiding unnecessary energy loss
Solution Approach 2:
The following sub-convoys automatically provide safety buffer functionality when needed without requiring active control intervention. The system self-regulates based on the pre-established sub-convoy structure, eliminating the need for unnecessary braking and propulsion commands
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for coordinating a vehicle group (1) formed by a number of vehicles (2i), wherein the vehicles (2i) move at predefined target distances (dSollj) from one another. According to the invention, the target distances (dSollj) are established in such a way that the vehicle group (1) is permanently divided into at least two vehicle sub-groups (1.k) such that at least one follower vehicle sub-group (1.k) follows a guide vehicle sub-group (1.1), wherein, in addition, at least each follower vehicle sub-group (1.k) is assigned its own guide vehicle (X.k) which heads the respective follower vehicle sub-group (1.k) as the first vehicle (2i), and a target distance (dSollj) is specified for the guide vehicle (X.k) which corresponds to at least one previously established entry distance (d E) which is established in such a way that, after setting the entry distance (d E) relative to a directly preceding vehicle (2i), an intermediate space (R) is formed between the respective vehicle sub-groups (1.k) such that a vehicle (40) that is ready to change lanes and with a vehicle length (L) can move between the at least two vehicle sub-groups (1.k) onto the roadway (3) of the vehicle group (1) into the intermediate space (R).