Sliding and adaptive sliding mode controllers for automated, longitudinal car driving

Longitudinal controllers are derived for an automated car driving. Two types of information sources are considered: the first-order information includes location and speed of following and leading cars, while the second-order information contains acceleration/deceleration in addition to the first-order information. A proper headway distance between the two cars is defined appropriately, sliding mode and adaptive sliding mode control theories become applicable, and longitudinal controllers are derived. The resultant controllers are proven to be stable and robust. The acceleration/deceleration information available through the modern inter-vehicle communication and sensing technologies significantly improve the control performance. The adaptive sliding mode controller yields better results because it includes a stable estimation mechanism of the maximum disturbance value