A system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle includes a sensor located in or on the following vehicle configured to detect data corresponding to a shape of a leading vehicle. The system further includes an electronic control unit (ECU) located in or on the following vehicle, coupled to the sensor, and configured to determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the shape of the leading vehicle, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on a pressure wake from the leading vehicle.

A traveling control apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes at least one processor that is configured to function as a driving assistance controller. In a case where a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle changes from a pre-switching preceding vehicle to a post-switching preceding vehicle, the driving assistance controller is configured to set a control target point in such a way that an object to be tracked is switched stepwise from the pre-switching preceding vehicle to the post-switching preceding vehicle. The driving assistance controller is configured to cause steering control to be performed in such a way that the vehicle tracks the set control target point.

A traveling control apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes at least one processor that is configured to function as a driving assistance controller. In a case where a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle changes from a pre-switching preceding vehicle to a post-switching preceding vehicle, the driving assistance controller is configured to set a control target point in such a way that an object to be tracked is switched stepwise from the pre-switching preceding vehicle to the post-switching preceding vehicle. The driving assistance controller is configured to cause steering control to be performed in such a way that the vehicle tracks the set control target point.

A method for safe at least semi-autonomous driving operation of an ego vehicle in case of sun glare is disclosed. The method involves checking, by a computing system, whether one or more vehicle sensors of the ego vehicle are dazzled by sun glare, and if yes, detecting environmental information by a detection system of the ego vehicle. The method further involves subsequently checking, by a computing system, the environmental information for a presence of at least one dynamic object for intercepting the sun glare during driving operation of the ego vehicle, and if yes, checking, by a computing system, whether the ego vehicle can execute a driving manoeuvre in such a way that the at least one dynamic object intercepts the sun glare during driving operation of the ego vehicle. If yes, then the driving manoeuvre is executed.

A dynamic platoon formation method under a mixed autonomous vehicles flow is provided. The method implements dynamic platooning by taking into account a fact that a traffic flow is a mixture of HDVs and CAVs. The dynamic platoon formation method includes: selecting lanes as candidate lanes in turn; constructing a decision tree from a current moment to a moment of platoon formation according to the following process: constructing a decision space for each CAV, generating a compatible decision set, selecting and executing a compatible decision, and updating location and speed information of all vehicles; and selecting, according to a predetermined index (including TTP and DTP), an optimal decision sequence as a decision sequence corresponding to the candidate lane.

A system comprises a lead autonomous vehicle (AV), a control device associated with the lead AV, and a following AV. The control device receives a command to navigate the lead AV to avoid an unexpected road condition. The control device receives sensor data from a sensor of the lead AV, comprising location coordinates of objects ahead of the lead AV. The control device accesses environmental data associated with a portion of a road between the lead AV and following AV. The environmental data comprises location coordinates of objects between the lead AV and following AV. The control device determines whether an object in the sensor data or environmental data impedes performing the command by the following AV. The control device updates the command, if the control device determines that an object impedes performing the command by the following AV, and communicates the updated command to the following AV.

Examples described herein provide a computer-implemented method for processing environmental data for at least one other vehicle relative to a target vehicle. The method includes processing, by a processing device using a self-attention mechanism, first data associated the at least one other vehicle to generate a first output associated with the at least one other vehicle. The method further includes processing, by the processing device using stacked residual blocks, second data associated the target vehicle to generate a second output associated with the target vehicle. The method further includes concatenating, by the processing device, the first output and the second output to generate a concatenated vector. The method further includes making, by the processing device, a driving decision for the target vehicle based at least in part on the concatenated vector. The method further includes controlling the target vehicle based at least in part on the decision.

Examples described herein provide a computer-implemented method for processing environmental data for at least one other vehicle relative to a target vehicle. The method includes processing, by a processing device using a self-attention mechanism, first data associated the at least one other vehicle to generate a first output associated with the at least one other vehicle. The method further includes processing, by the processing device using stacked residual blocks, second data associated the target vehicle to generate a second output associated with the target vehicle. The method further includes concatenating, by the processing device, the first output and the second output to generate a concatenated vector. The method further includes making, by the processing device, a driving decision for the target vehicle based at least in part on the concatenated vector. The method further includes controlling the target vehicle based at least in part on the decision.

A control device of a vehicle is provided. The device controls travelling of the vehicle such that the vehicle follows another vehicle based on information received from the other vehicle; and determines whether to allow the vehicle to start to follow another vehicle based on at least one of whether a user of the vehicle is inside the vehicle or an instruction from the user. The processor starts to follow another vehicle in a case where the travel control circuit is allowed to follow the other vehicle.

Systems and methods for coordinating and controlling vehicles, for example heavy trucks, to follow closely behind each other, or linking, in a convenient, safe manner and thus to save significant amounts of fuel while increasing safety. In an embodiment, on-board controllers in each vehicle interact with vehicular sensors to monitor and control, for example, relative distance, relative acceleration/deceleration, and speed. Additional safety features in at least some embodiments include providing each driver with one or more visual displays of forward and rearward looking cameras. Long-range communications are provided for coordinating vehicles for linking, and for communicating analytics to fleet managers or others.