Publication

Autonomy Artificial Intelligence Robotics (AAIR)
2019

Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) in Controlled and Real- World Environments: Testing and Results

by Jacob Ward; Patrick Smith; Dan Pierce; David Bevly; Paul Richardson; Sridhar Lakshmanan; Athanasios Argyris; Brandon Smyth; Cristian Adam; Scott Heim

Abstract

The transportation industry annually travels more than 6 times as many miles as passenger vehicles [1]. The fuel cost associated with this represents 38% of the total marginal operating cost for this industry [8]. As a result, industry’s interest in applications of autonomy have grown. One application of this technology is Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) using Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC). Auburn University outfitted four class 8 vehicles, two Peterbilt 579’s and two M915’s, with a basic hardware suite, and software library to enable level 1 autonomy. These algorithms were tested in controlled environments, such as the American Center for Mobility (ACM), and on public roads, such as highway 280 in Alabama, and Interstates 275/696 in Michigan. This paper reviews the results of these real-world tests and discusses the anomalies and failures that occurred during testing.