Adaptive Cruise Control for Heavy-Duty Vehicles: A Torque-Based Approach 2006-01-0141

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) has been demonstrated to improve driver comfort, safety and highway traffic flow. It also has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions. In addition to maintaining constant time headway under various driving scenarios, a commercial ACC system should be robust against varying vehicle and road parameters and radar measurement inaccuracies to ensure consistent performance and wide-scale application. The robustness property is particularly critical for heavy-duty vehicle applications where the vehicle mass can vary significantly. The paper presents a torque-based ACC system for heavy-duty vehicles that achieves a significant level of parameter robustness. The torque control is realized through the application of SAE J1939 engine torque limiting commands and through the activation of the engine retarder (engine/compression brake). Both simulation and road test results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the ACC system.