Effect of Platoon Configurations on the Anti-Disturbing Performance

<div>In order to promote the actual application of the vehicular platoon, this study investigates the effect of the specific platoon configurations including predecessor following (PF), predecessor–leader following (PLF), and bidirectional following (BD), on the anti-disturbing performance from the linear to nonlinear perspective. First, based on the method of sensitivity of error propagation to the disturbance, a linear platoon model is established by considering an individual vehicle as a lumped-mass point. Then, the transfer function matrix from disturbance to spacing error is derived for sensitivity analysis. Finally, especially considering the inherent vehicle dynamics, the Burckhardt tire force model is adopted to construct a nonlinear platoon dynamics model for the nonlinear dynamics analysis. The results reveal the characteristics of each platoon configuration, as well as the design of control gains in terms of the anti-disturbing performance. The nonlinear dynamics property in high-adhesion conditions are generally similar to those of the sensitivity analysis based on the linear platoon model. However, some particular and complex phenomena different from the linear sensitivity analysis especially in low-adhesion conditions are only observed by the nonlinear dynamics analysis.</div>