Automatic car-following - A study of possible controllers

Systems to allow automobiles or other vehicles to automatically follow one another are becoming increasingly desirable. This paper considers a class of linear controllers to determine their relative suitability for maintaining longitudinal separation between individual vehicles. A modified controller using forward and backward-looking sensors is examined using a transmission line analogy. Stability concepts are defined and clarified and characteristics of a well-behaved system are presented. The relative benefits of the linear models for use in a practical system are discussed and areas of future work outlined.