Research on optimization of distance ranging method and application of car-following under slope roads

Inaccurate measurements of vehicular distance can significantly disrupt the decision-making of intelligent vehicles, potentially leading to accidents such as collisions on slope roads. Existing ranging methods fail to accurately measure vehicular distance on slope roads. This paper proposes an optimized ranging approach to address this challenge. Initially, a slope observer is developed using the vanishing point to determine the position of the leading vehicle and calculate the slope angle. An observation distance model is then created based on the slope’s geometry to measure vehicular distance. Furthermore, an enhanced headway model specifically designed for slope roads is introduced to estimate the expected distance. The proposed method is applied in intelligent vehicles, and its effectiveness is assessed through comparative tests. Results show that the detected distance by the proposed method is closer to the actual value, and the maximum error rate has been reduced to 4%, significantly lower than the existing methods.