Control Schemes for Autonomous Car-following Systems with two Classical Compensators

In this paper, we improve the dynamics of an autonomous car-following system with two classical compensation methods: proportional-differential (PD) and velocity feedback (VF) control methods. Based on an optimal velocity model, the system transfer function was derived and control block diagram was given with an open-loop transfer function. Three theorems were proposed and proven with the use of small gain theorem. The analytical results show that two compensation factors play important roles in stabilizing the car-following system. In the simulation, three dynamical models were derived in reverse from the closed-loop transfer function and the numerical results show that, with increasing factors, the stability of car-following was enhanced and traffic jams were eliminated. The analytical results are supported by the numerical results.