A simulation tool for automated platooning in mixed highway scenarios

Automated platooning is one of the most challenging fields in the domain of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Conceptually, platooning means creating clusters of vehicles which closely follow each other autonomously without action of the driver, neither for accelerating, nor for braking. This leads to several important benefits from substantially improved road throughput to increased safety. The control of such platoons depends on two components: First, radar is typically to be used to control the distance between the vehicles, and secondly, Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) helps managing the entire platoon allowing cars to join or to leave the group whenever necessary. Platooning systems have been mostly investigated in controlled environments such as dedicated highways with centralized management. However, platooning-enabled cars will be deployed gradually and might have to travel on highways together with other non-automated vehicles. We developed a combined traffic and network simulator for studying strategies and protocols needed for managing platoons in such mixed scenarios. We show the models needed and present first results using a simple IVC-based platoon management as a proof of concept.