Integral-Sliding-Mode Braking Control for a Connected Vehicle Platoon: Theory and Application

This paper proposes a distributed integral-sliding-mode (ISM) control strategy for cooperative braking control of a connected vehicle platoon with a focus on the car-following interactions between vehicles. In particular, a linear controller considering the position and velocity of the lead vehicle as well as the braking force is proposed for the leader, while a constant-time-headway-policy-based ISM controller incorporating the car-following interactions, the spacing error, velocity difference, and external disturbances is developed for the followers. In addition, the convergence for the ISM controller is rigorously analyzed using the Lyapunov technique. Furthermore, the string stability of the platoon is analyzed using the transfer function method. Finally, extensive analyses are conducted using numerical and field experiments. Results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy with respect to the position, velocity, deceleration, and spacing error profiles.