Safe Vehicular Platooning Control: Mitigating Uncertainty and Enhancing Stability

This paper explores a safe control strategy for autonomous vehicle platooning, focusing on mitigating the effects of uncertainty and maintaining platoon stability. Autonomous platooning, enabled by vehicle-to-everything communication, is critical in intelligent transportation systems to enhance safety, reduce fuel consumption, and minimize traffic delays. However, real-world conditions such as communication delays, external disturbances, and vehicle inconsistencies can introduce instability. This study presents a control algorithm that manages inter-vehicle distance through dynamic speed adjustment and string stability criteria. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method under varying levels of external disturbances, demonstrating its ability to maintain desired distance gap and prevent amplification of disturbances within the platoon.