Cloud Control of Connected Vehicle under Bi-directional Time-varying delay: An Application of Predictor-observer Structured Controller

TL;DR

This paper introduces a predictor-observer structured controller for connected vehicles that effectively compensates for bi-directional, time-varying delays in cloud control systems, enhancing stability and control accuracy.

Contribution

It presents a novel delay compensation method using a predictor-observer controller and constructs an equivalent delay-free model for robust stability analysis.

Findings

Controller accurately predicts system states under delays

Significantly improved control performance in vehicle lateral control

Outperforms conventional linear feedback controllers

Abstract

This article is devoted to addressing the cloud control of connected vehicles, specifically focusing on analyzing the effect of bi-directional communication-induced delays. To mitigate the adverse effects of such delays, a novel predictor-observer structured controller is proposed which compensate for both measurable output delays and unmeasurable, yet bounded, input delays simultaneously. The study begins by novelly constructing an equivalent delay-free inter-connected system model that incorporates the Predictor-Observer controller, considering certain delay boundaries and model uncertainties. Subsequently, a stability analysis is conducted to assess the system's robustness under these conditions. Next, the connected vehicle lateral control scenario is built which contain high-fidelity vehicle dynamic model. The results demonstrate the controller's ability to accurately predict the system states, even under time-varying bi-directional delays. Finally, the proposed method is deployed in a real connected vehicle lateral control system. Comparative tests with a conventional linear feedback controller showcase significantly improved control performance under dominant bi-directional delay conditions, affirming the superiority of the proposed method against the delay.