In this paper, a novel sliding mode control (NSMC) strategy is developed to ensure both the internal stability and string stability of heterogeneous vehicle platoons with parameter uncertainties and external disturbances in finite time. Specifically, an improved constant time headway (ICTH) policy is first introduced as a solution to eliminate non-zero initial conditions while increasing traffic density without extra communication burdens. Then a NSMC strategy with the disturbance observer is proposed. In addition to ensuring platoon stability, the combination of a continuous super-twisting algorithm and disturbance observer significantly improves the convergence rate and chattering alleviation. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted for validation and comparison of the effectiveness of NSMC strategy, and it can be found that the transient and steady-state performance is greatly enhanced under the ICTH policy. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the proposed NSMC strategy based on the ICTH policy only requires basic communication with the preceding vehicle and does not rely on the platoon length, which effectively avoids potential network-induced problems (e.g., time delay and packet loss) and reduces communication burden.
A Novel Sliding Mode Control Strategy for Heterogeneous Vehicle Platoons Based on an Improved CTH Policy
Int.J Automot. Technol.
International Journal of Automotive Technology ; 26 , 4 ; 1127-1145
2025-06-01
19 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English