On the interaction between Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand systems and the power network: models and coordination algorithms

We study the interaction between a fleet of electric, self-driving vehicles servicing on-demand transportation requests (referred to as Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand, or AMoD, system) and the electric power network. We propose a model that captures the coupling between the two systems stemming from the vehicles' charging requirements and captures time-varying customer demand and power generation costs, road congestion, battery depreciation, and power transmission and distribution constraints. We then leverage the model to jointly optimize the operation of both systems. We devise an algorithmic procedure to losslessly reduce the problem size by bundling customer requests, allowing it to be efficiently solved by off-the-shelf linear programming solvers. Next, we show that the socially optimal solution to the joint problem can be enforced as a general equilibrium, and we provide a dual decomposition algorithm that allows self-interested agents to compute the market clearing prices without sharing private information. We assess the performance of the mode by studying a hypothetical AMoD system in Dallas-Fort Worth and its impact on the Texas power network. Lack of coordination between the AMoD system and the power network can cause a 4.4% increase in the price of electricity in Dallas-Fort Worth; conversely, coordination between the AMoD system and the power network could reduce electricity expenditure compared to the case where no cars are present (despite the increased demand for electricity) and yield savings of up $147M/year. Finally, we provide a receding-horizon implementation and assess its performance with agent-based simulations. Collectively, the results of this paper provide a first-of-a-kind characterization of the interaction between electric-powered AMoD systems and the power network, and shed additional light on the economic and societal value of AMoD.Comment: Extended version of the paper presented at Robotics: Science and Systems XIV and accepted by TCNS. In Version 4, the body of the paper is largely rewritten for clarity and consistency, and new numerical simulations are presented. All source code is available (MIT) at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.324165

A state of the art of sensor location, flow observability, estimation, and prediction problems in traffic networks

A state-of-the-art review of flow observability, estimation, and prediction problems in traffic networks is performed. Since mathematical optimization provides a general framework for all of them, an integrated approach is used to perform the analysis of these problems and consider them as different optimization problems whose data, variables, constraints, and objective functions are the main elements that characterize the problems proposed by different authors. For example, counted, scanned or “a priori” data are the most common data sources; conservation laws, flow nonnegativity, link capacity, flow definition, observation, flow propagation, and specific model requirements form the most common constraints; and least squares, likelihood, possible relative error, mean absolute relative error, and so forth constitute the bases for the objective functions or metrics. The high number of possible combinations of these elements justifies the existence of a wide collection of methods for analyzing static and dynamic situations