Adaptive Decentralized Control of Connected Cars for Safe Platooning with Unconnected Motorized Two-Wheelers

Connected Vehicles (CVs) play a pivotal role in enhancing traffic safety and efficiency by leveraging real-time coordination through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. By utilizing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), CVscan significantly reduce accidents and improve traffic flow through cooperative maneuvers, like platooning. However, in developing countries, CVs have to interoperate with vehicles of various types, dynamics, and levels of connectivity, which necessitates the study of mixed traffic platooning. This paper focuses on such a mixed traffic platoon consisting of connected cars (CCs) with heterogeneous dynamics, and human-driven unconnected motorized two-wheelers (UMTWs). While the CCs are automated and can share real-time information via V2V communication, UMTWs depend entirely on the driver's perception and reaction. The objective is to design adaptive decentralized controllers for each CC to ensure safe platooning, even in the presence of UMTWs operating on urban roads. We utilize the variable time headway (VTH) spacing policy for each CC to maintain an efficient collision-free safe distance from its preceding vehicle. This adaptive approach caters to dynamic traffic conditions, thereby ensuring smooth and secure traffic flow on urban roads. The analytical results are substantiated through numerical simulations, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.