Truck platooning in mixed traffic

In this paper, an evolutionary concept for platooning of trucks is presented, which requires no additional infrastructure and can operate in today's traffic conditions. The basic idea is that a manually driven truck is followed by one or more autonomously guided trucks. To implement this concept, a truck pair has been equipped with a high precision vision-based sensor system and the necessary actuators. This two-vehicle-platoon is currently undergoing tests on public highways around Stuttgart. All maneuvers occurring in daily traffic are under control, including strong acceleration and emergency braking. The developed system can easily be applied to passenger cars and be extended to platoons of more than two cars, as shown by simulations.