Self-triggered distributed economic MPC for asynchronous vehicle platoon with communication delays and external disturbances

This paper investigates the asynchronous vehicle platoon control problems with communication delays and external disturbances, in which fuel economy and communication resources are taken into consideration. To address these challenges, a self-triggered distributed economic model predictive control (SDEMPC) algorithm with a distributed disturbance observer is proposed for the platoon system. First, a distributed disturbance observer is introduced to actively alleviate the negative effects of disturbances. To ensure adherence to physical constraints, a tightened control input constraint is derived from disturbance estimation information. Next, a dual-layer optimization problem with robustness and tracking stability constraints is formulated for the disturbance-compensated platoon system. On this basis, the fuel economy can be improved while achieving the desired platoon formation. Then, an asynchronous self-triggered scheduler with a lengthened sequence strategy is designed to effectively reduce communication frequency and coordinate asynchronous communication with delays between vehicles. Subsequently, the recursive feasibility of the proposed algorithm and the closed-loop stability of the platoon system are strictly analyzed. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.