Analysis of formation control schemes for vehicles subject to kinematic constraints

Abstract

This thesis focuses on control schemes for vehicle platoons. The study uses transfer function and Lyapunov function analysis, as well as computer simulations carried out to evaluate the performance of existing control schemes and to test the new control schemes proposed in this thesis. One of the results is a control algorithm that allows an indefinite number of followers to stay in formation behind a leader that follows a planar trajectory. In the design of this control scheme, the amount of information used by followers was minimized. Since the focus of the study is on the dynamics of a large formation of vehicles, individual vehicles were modeled in the simplest way possible: as point masses with a controlled acceleration vector applied to the point mass and subject to kinematic constraints. This thesis also presents further development of the string stability approach, extended from 1D (curvilinear) motion to 2D (planar) motion.