A new platooning model for connected and autonomous vehicles to improve string stability

Abstract: This paper presents a novel approach to coordinated vehicle platooning, where the platoon followers communicate solely with the platoon leader. A dynamic model is proposed to account for driving safety under communication delays. General linear stability results are mathematically proven, and numerical simulations are performed to analyze the impact of model parameters in two scenarios: a ring road with initial disturbance and an infinite road with periodic disturbance. The simulation outcomes align with the theoretical analysis, demonstrating that the proposed "look-to-the-leader" platooning strategy significantly outperforms conventional car-following strategies, such as following one or two vehicles ahead, in terms of traffic flow stabilization. This paper introduces a new perspective on organizing platoons for autonomous vehicles, with implications for enhancing traffic stability.