On Vehicle Automatic Longitudinal Control

The achievement of safe and efficient longitudinal control is probably the most significant technical problem associated with individual-vehicle, automated transport systems. One aspect of such control the design, implementation, and onroad testing of an individual vehicle controller—is of concern here. The realized controller is characterized by small, online position errors (<1 ft position demotion) in both small- and large-signal input situations, passenger ride comfort (|J| < 1.6 ft/sec³ in online operations), and an insensitivity to both external disturbances and variations in key vehicle parameters. In essence, the designed controller is an attractive candidate for implementation and, at the very least, indicates the type of longitudinal performance one can expect from a realistically designed controller over the speed range 0–93 ft/sec.