Multiobjective optimization framework for cooperative adaptive cruise control vehicles in the automated vehicle platooning environment

Automated longitudinal control technology has been tested through cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC), which is envisioned to improve highway mobility drastically by forming a vehicle platoon with short headway while maintaining stable traffic flow under disturbances. Compared with previous research efforts with the pseudomulti-objective optimization process, this paper proposes an automated longitudinal control framework based on multiobjective optimization (MOOP) for CACC by taking into consideration four optimization objectives: mobility, safety, driver comfort, and fuel consumption. Of the target time headways that have been tested, the proposed CACC platoon control method achieved the best performance with 0.9- and 0.6-s target time headways. Compared with a non-optimization-based CACC, the MOOP CACC achieved 98%, 93%, 42%, and 33% objective value reductions of time headway deviation, unsafe condition, jitter, and instantaneous fuel consumption, respectively. In comparison with a single-objective-optimization-based approach, which optimized only one of the four proposed objectives, it was shown that the MOOP-based CACC maintained a good balance between all of the objective functions and achieved Pareto optimality for the entire platoon.