Traffic Smoothing Using Explicit Local Controllers: Experimental Evidence for Dissipating Stop-and-go Waves with a Single Automated Vehicle in Dense Traffic

Abstract: 

This article presents experimental evidence of the ability of a single automated vehicle acting as a controller to effectively dissipate stop-and-go waves in real traffic. The automated vehicle succeeded in stabilizing the speed profile by reducing oscillations in time and speed variations between vehicles during rush hour on I-24 in the Nashville area. We detail the control design, deployment and results obtained in this experiment, conducted as part of the CIRCLES consortium’s “MegaVanderTest” 2022, which involved a total of 100 automated vehicles.

Author: 
Hayat, Amaury
Alanqary, Arwa
Bhadani, Rahul
Denaro, Christopher
Weightman, Ryan J.
Xiang, Shengquan
Lee, Jonathan W.
Bunting, Matthew
Gollakota, Anish
Nice, Matthew
Gloudemans, Derek A.
Zachár, Gergely
Davis, Jon F.
Delle Monache, Maria
Seibold, Benjamin
Bayen, Alexandre
Sprinkle, Jonathan M.
Work, Daniel B.
Piccoli, Benedetto
Publication date: 
February 1, 2025
Publication type: 
Journal Article
Citation: 
Hayat, A., Alanqary, A., Bhadani, R., Denaro, C., Weightman, R. J., Xiang, S., Lee, J. W., Bunting, M., Gollakota, A., Nice, M. W., Gloudemans, D., Zachár, G., Davis, J. F., Delle Monache, M. L., Seibold, B., Bayen, A. M., Sprinkle, J., Work, D. B., & Piccoli, B. (2025). Traffic Smoothing Using Explicit Local Controllers: Experimental Evidence for Dissipating Stop-and-go Waves with a Single Automated Vehicle in Dense Traffic. IEEE Control Systems, 45(1), 95–110. IEEE Control Systems. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCS.2024.3503402