Look-ahead control for heavy trucks to minimize trip time and fuel consumption

Abstract

The scenario studied is a drive mission for a heavy diesel truck. With aid of an on board road slope database in combination with a GPS unit, information about the road geometry ahead is extracted. This look-ahead information is used in an optimization of the velocity trajectory with respect to a criterion formulation that weighs trip time and fuel consumption. A dynamic programming algorithm is devised and used in a predictive control scheme by constantly feeding the conventional cruise controller with new set points. The algorithm is evaluated with a real truck on a highway, and the experimental results show that the fuel consumption is significantly reduced.Original Publication: Erik Hellström, Maria Ivarsson, Jan Åslund and Lars Nielsen, Look-ahead control for heavy trucks to minimize trip time and fuel consumption, 2009, Control Engineering Practice, (17), 2, 245-254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conengprac.2008.07.005 Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. http://www.elsevier.com/CADIC