Model-based event-triggered control for freeway traffic systems

In this paper a model-based event-triggered control scheme for freeway traffic systems is proposed. The freeway network is a spatially distributed system in which sensors and actuators act on portions of the overall system. Measurements and control actions can be transmitted among the plant and the controllers via a shared communication network. For this reason the freeway network can be controlled relying on a design framework typical of Networked Control Systems. In the proposed control scheme the number of transmissions over the network is reduced by adopting local triggering conditions included in sensors, allowing transmissions from the sensors to the controller only when such conditions are verified. One of the novelties of this work stands in considering not only sensors able to measure the freeway traffic state but also sensors which measure the traffic demands, which can be regarded as disturbances affecting the system dynamics.