Safe platoon of autonomous vehicles – SafePlatoon

The SafePlatoon project addresses the platooning problem, in the case of autonomous vehicles. It possesses an innovative aspect, given by the conception of a set of extended and robust platooning capabilities. Firstly, it is engaged with mastering platoon operation aspects, with different geometric configurations: linear, triangular, front line, … Secondly, it also concerns the conception of platoon's dynamic adaptation capabilities : configuration changes, vehicle insertion and ejection.

An important aspect of the safe platoon project is that the proposed decision and control algorithms will be verified and validated. Verification consists in proving, by applying specific methods and tools, that a set of safety properties is valid relatively to a given system. Validation relates to performing, on a simulation model or a prototype of the system, a set of test scenarios. The latter being defined so as to evaluate the conformity and the quality of the proposed approaches.

The SafePlatoon project partners possess an experience in the development of platooning decision and control algorithms and in the design of experimental intelligent vehicles. They have also participated in projects devoted to platooning and/or autonomous vehicle applications for urban transportation, agriculture and the military. Those experiences will be enriched and reinforced, in the frame of the SafePlatoon project.

Conceived for a period of three years, the SafePlatoon project aims to the valuation of its results. Consequently, communication actions will be targeted at academic institutions and other actors of the related sector (industry, administration, ...). A labeling will be requested from the competitiveness clusters Vehicle of the Future and Viaméca.