British engineering, research and test service provider Horiba MIRA is collaborating with aerospace company GMV to develop new and improved passenger car platooning solutions on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The project aims to advance platooning – the process of optimising the co-ordination of traffic streams – by embracing a number of advanced technologies. The first of these is cooperation between all the cars in the platoon to share information about their respective positions on the roadway.
Cooperative positioning is enabled with a variety of range-finding sensors, such as radar, with data being shared between cars via low latency wireless communications. For this data to be ‘trusted’ to inform the management of the positions of the cars in the platoon, it is evaluated by an integrity algorithm.
The integration of these technologies will unlock a series of benefits for individual drivers and wider society, the partnership said. A platoon automatically optimises the flow of vehicles along highways and prevents waves of braking and acceleration, known as perturbations, through streams of traffic when vehicles are manually driven at high levels of density, such as during rush hours.
By automating platoons of cars travelling on motorways, the project aims to allow passengers to enjoy smoother driving conditions by optimising throttle and brake profiles, which in turn improves vehicle efficiency and reduces emissions.
Additionally, the improved throughput on existing highway infrastructure reduces the requirement for new road building at a period where road traffic is predicted to steadily rise.
A cooperative positioning solution also reduces hardware costs, while the use of integrity algorithms assures safety and robustness, and critically can be used to optimise the speed and following distances of the platooning vehicles.
The partnership aims to move into a live trials phase in Q1 2022, encompassing both simulated and physical testing during 2022.
Tim Edwards, Horiba MIRA’s chief engineer for CAV Technologies, said: “Along with our partners at the European Space Agency and GMV NSL, we are excited to be moving this important project forward into the technical evaluation and testing phases.
“We are breaking new ground with this approach to car platooning, which is an evolution of the developments achieved in vehicle safety through advanced driver assistance systems. With platooning we have the opportunity to also make significant improvements to efficiency by integrating connected and automated driving technologies. And, as congestion becomes less tolerable and the demand for mobility seems set to rise, it brings further benefits of improved traffic efficiency and road utilisation.”
