Vehicle Platoon Traffic Control at Single-Lane Intersections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing intelligent traffic management systems are inadequate for managing vehicle platoons on single-lane secondary roads with at-grade intersections, as they do not account for the increased complexity of platoon management in such scenarios, leading to non-deterministic intersection management and safety evaluation challenges.
Innovation Solution
A hierarchical traffic management system with a road controller broker that manages multiple road controllers, using V2V or I2V communication to maintain platoon size, speed, and orientation, and employing a fixed communications beacon for reliable signal quality, ensuring determinism and efficient platoon management at intersections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing intelligent traffic management systems are used to manage vehicle platoons on single-lane secondary roads with at-grade intersections, then general traffic flow can be maintained, but platoon management becomes non-deterministic and safety evaluation becomes challenging due to increased complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments platoon management into distinct phases: pre-intersection preparation, intersection traversal, and post-intersection resumption. Each phase has specific control actions that make the overall complex process deterministic and evaluable through modular safety analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions before intersection arrival by predicting platoon arrival time and preparing control strategies in advance. This includes pre-coordinating with intersecting traffic and preparing signal timing, which ensures deterministic intersection management by eliminating last-minute decision-making
2Productivity
If platoons travel through intersections without speed adjustment, then travel time is minimized, but bottlenecks occur at intersections reducing overall system efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic speed adjustments based on platoon position relative to the intersection. Speed is increased during approach, reduced at the intersection boundary, maintained through the intersection, and then increased again after clearance. This periodic control pattern prevents bottlenecks while minimizing overall travel time loss
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses real-time feedback from platoon position, speed, and intersection status to dynamically adjust control commands. This closed-loop control ensures that speed adjustments are optimized for each specific situation, balancing bottleneck prevention with travel time minimization
3Reliability
If V2V or I2V communication is used to maintain platoon cohesion, then platoon size, speed, and orientation can be controlled, but communication reliability may be insufficient without fixed beacons
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces fixed communication beacons as intermediary nodes between vehicles and the traffic management system. These beacons provide reliable I2V communication for critical control signals while V2V communication handles platoon internal coordination, creating a hybrid communication architecture that balances reliability and complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Various systems and methods for implementing intelligent traffic management for vehicle platoons are described herein. A road controller system includes A road controller system comprising: a data store to store an active traffic policy; a processor subsystem to: determine a speed or platoon size of a vehicle platoon traveling on an area controlled by the road controller system; and determine a change to the speed or platoon size of the vehicle platoon, the change based on the active traffic policy; and a transceiver to transmit a control message to the vehicle platoon to implement the change to the speed or platoon size of the vehicle platoon.