Constraint-Driven Optimal Control of Multiagent Systems: A Highway Platooning Case Study

Platooning has been exploited as a method for vehicles to minimize energy consumption. In this letter, we present a constraint-driven optimal control framework that yields emergent platooning behavior for connected and automated vehicles operating in an open transportation system. Our approach combines recent insights in constraint-driven optimal control with the physical aerodynamic interactions between vehicles in a highway setting. The result is a set of equations that describes when platooning is an appropriate strategy, as well as a descriptive optimal control law that yields emergent platooning behavior. Finally, we demonstrate these properties in simulation.

I. Introduction

Multi-agent systems have attracted considerable attention in many applications due to their natural parallelization, general adaptability, and ability to self-organize [1]. This has proven useful in many applications of complex systems [2], such as emerging mobility systems [3], construction [4], and surveillance [5]. A recent push in constraint-driven control has brought the idea of long-duration autonomy to the forefront of multi-agent systems research [6]. For long-duration autonomy tasks, robots are left to interact with their environment on timescales significantly longer than what can be achieved in a laboratory setting. These approaches necessarily emphasize safe energy-minimizing control policies for the agents, whose behaviors are driven by interactions with the environment. Several applications of constraint-driven multi-agent control have been explored recently [7]–[9].