Cooperative autonomous cruise control (CACC) uses a combination of forward-ranging sensors and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication to help a vehicle adjust its speed as it follows the preceding vehicle in the same lane. More broadly, CACC enables cooperative maneuvering by vehicles, facilitating the merging of traffic streams and the formation of vehicles in platoons.

This research proposes to overcome the key remaining technical challenges that stand in the way of CACC implementation. The research will address improved platoon maneuvering protocols and more accurate car-following models.

California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) will conduct parallel analyses of different simulation tools, which will enhance the verification of impacts and the credibility of results. The simulation modeling will include arterial networks in addition to freeways. PATH and TU Delft will use the driver-behavior data collected from a previous Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) project, as well as their previous research with Infinity CACC vehicles.

Define a range of promising operational concepts to govern the safe and efficient creation and dissolution of clusters of CACC vehicles.

Goals:

Refine existing traffic simulation tools to enable them to produce high-fidelity results when representing the innovative CACC concepts in operation.

•     Apply the simulation tools to assess and then select the most promising operational concept alternatives.
•     Prepare for a future large-scale field operational test of CACC based on the most promising concepts.

• Exploratory Advanced Research

• FY 2002-2022 / Exploratory Advanced Research