Implementation of an Optimal Look-Ahead Controller in a Heavy-Duty Distribution Vehicle

Controlling the longitudinal movement of heavy-duty vehicles based on optimal control can be a cost-efficient way of reducing their fuel consumption. Such controllers today mainly exist for vehicles in haulage applications, in which the velocity is allowed to deviate from a constant set-speed. For distribution vehicles, which is the focus of this paper, the desired and required velocity has large variations, which makes the situation more complex. This paper describes the implementation of an optimal controller in a real heavy-duty distribution vehicle. The optimal control problem is solved offline as a Mixed Integer Quadratic Program, which yields reference trajectories that are tracked online in the vehicle. Some important steps in the procedure of the implementation are, except for designing the controller: developing a positioning system for the test track where the experiments are performed, estimating the parameters of the resistive forces, and setting the velocity constraints. Simulations show a potential of 10% reduction in fuel consumption without increasing the trip time. Experiments are then performed in a Scania truck, with the optimal solution as reference for the existing cruise control functions in the vehicle. It is concluded that in order to verify the fuel savings experimentally, the low-level controllers in the vehicle must be modified such that the tracking error is decreased.