Traffic Control on Main Line of Highway Using Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) for the Purpose of Merge Assistance Influence of Traffic Flow Management on Stability and Response of Platoon

• Published in: International Journal of Automotive Engineering Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 116 - 124
• Main Authors: Yoshioka, Tohru, Suzuki, Keisuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, INC 2024
• Subjects: Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC); Highway Merge Assistance; Platoon; Traffic Flow
• ISSN: 2185-0984; 2185-0992
• DOI: 10.20485/jsaeijae.15.3_116

We studied the traffic flow management on highway main line to assist drivers in merging using CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) vehicles which can adjust vehicle speed and time-headway based on control target from out-car via wide-area or narrow-area communication. By conducting platoon simulations to clarify the effect of CACC control on traffic flow under various vehicle and driver types by combining control target (speed or time-headway) and control trigger (time or position), we found that speed management based on narrow area communication (i.e., position triggering) is most effective to manage the traffic flow before and after merging sections in a quick and stable manner even at relatively low CACC ratio. The study also revealed the problems that the time-headway adjustment results in excessive speed changes and that time triggered speed management can cause irregular speed fluctuations. These findings are useful in providing driving assistance by controlling traffic flow stably, and we will realize desirable merging assistance to drivers in the future.