Reducing emissions and energy consumption of autonomous vehicles is critical in the modern era. This paper presents an intelligent energy management system based on Reinforcement Learning (RL) for conventional autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, in order to improve the efficiency, a new exploration strategy is proposed to replace the traditional decayed ε-greedy strategy in the Q-learning algorithm associated with RL. Unlike traditional Q-learning algorithms, the proposed self-adaptive Q-learning (SAQ-learning) can be applied in real-time. The learning capability of the controllers can help the vehicle deal with unknown situations in real-time. Numerical simulations show that compared to other controllers, Q-learning and SAQ-learning controllers can generate the desired engine torque based on the vehicle road power demand and control the air/fuel ratio by changing the throttle angle efficiently in real-time. Also, the proposed real-time SAQ-learning is shown to improve the operational time by 23% compared to standard Q-learning. Our simulations reveal the effectiveness of the proposed control system compared to other methods, namely dynamic programming and fuzzy logic methods.

Ballbots are omnidirectional self-balancing platforms that can be exploited in many applications to detect, track, or interact with objects or humans, such as a service robot. Ballbot will enable mobile robots to stand tall and move elegantly through busy environments. However, maintaining equilibrium through synchronization of motion between the ball and the body of a Ballbot is still an open research problem. This article presents a synchronization control (SC) design, with synchronization and coupling errors for Ballbots to stabilize the body and control ball transfer simultaneously. The proposed SC method is applied to the two 2-D planar models of a Ballbot robot. The dynamic model of the Ballbot is derived, and parameters are identified online using the intelligent particle swarm optimization method. The proposed controller is proven to guarantee asymptotic convergence to zero errors in tracking and synchronization. The stabilizing and transferring problems are investigated through several simulations and experiments by using an actual Ballbot platform. Moreover, the controller performance is compared with an augmented proportional derivative controller and a partial feedback linearization controller. The results and comparisons demonstrate a superior stabilization accuracy of the proposed SC method.

Automotive companies continue to develop integrated safety, sustainability, and reliability features that can help mitigate some of the most common driving risks associated with autonomous vehicles (AVs). Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) offer practical solutions to use control strategies to cut down fuel usage and emissions. AVs and HEVs are combined to take the advantages of each kind to solve the problem of wasting energy. This paper presents an intelligent driver assistance system, including adaptive cruise control (ACC) and an energy management system (EMS), for HEVs. Our proposed ACC determines the desired acceleration and safe distance with the lead car through a switched model predictive control (MPC) and a neuro-fuzzy (NF) system. The performance criteria of the switched MPC toggles between speed and distance control appropriately and its stability is mathematically proven. The EMS intelligently control the energy consumption based on ACC commands. The results show that the driving risk is extremely reduced by using ACC-MPC and ACC-NF, and the vehicle energy consumption by driver assistance system based on ACC-NF is improved by 2.6%.

A sustainable circular economy involves designing and promoting new products with the least environmental impact through increasing efficiency. The emergence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been a revolution in the automobile industry and a breakthrough opportunity to create more sustainable transportation in the future. Autonomous vehicles are supposed to provide a safe, easy-to-use and environmentally friendly means of transport. To this end, improving AVs' safety and energy efficiency by using advanced control and optimization algorithms has become an active research topic to deliver on new commitments: carbon reduction and responsible innovation. The focus of this study is to improve the energy consumption of an AV in a vehicle-following process while safe driving is satisfied. We propose a cascade control system in which an autonomous cruise controller (ACC) is integrated with an energy management system (EMS) to reduce energy consumption. An adaptive model predictive control (AMPC) is proposed as the ACC to control the acceleration of the ego vehicle (the following vehicle) in a vehicle-following scenario, such that it can safely follow the lead vehicle in the same lane on a highway. The proposed ACC appropriately switches between speed and distance control systems to follow the lead vehicle safely and precisely. The computed acceleration is then used in the EMS component to find the optimal engine torque that minimizes the fuel consumption of the ego vehicle. EMS is designed based on two methods: type 1 fuzzy logic system (T1FLS) and interval type 2 fuzzy logic system (IT2FLS). Results show that the combination of AMPC and IT2FLS significantly reduces fuel consumption while the ego vehicle follows the lead vehicle safely and with a minimum spacing error. The proposed controller facilitates smarter energy use in AVs and supports safer transportation.

Autonomous vehicles are aimed to reduce accidents and traffic congestion. Since hybrid electric vehicles offer feasible solutions to reduce energy consumption and emission to the environment, it is expected that autonomous vehicles will be powered through a hybrid electric system compared to other alternatives. In this paper, a hybrid electric autonomous vehicle is studied under significant amount of uncertainty and ambiguity in the road environment and driver behavior. A Type 1 fuzzy logic controller is constructed here to address the uncertainties of driving conditions. The design involves building an intelligent energy management system for the hybrid electric autonomous vehicle. We have also examined the potentials of the Interval Type 2 fuzzy logic control, especially for energy consumption management. Two simulations are implemented, to demonstrate that the intelligent system, proposed trough Type 1 and Interval Type 2 fuzzy logic control, decreases the fuel usage of the vehicle from 6.74 to 6.58 L/100km, respectively. It is also demonstrated that the Interval Type 2 fuzzy logic controller saves more battery life compared to the Type-1 when the vehicle works under uncertain and ambiguous road conditions. Finally, Interval Type-2 fuzzy logic controller facilitates a reduction of carbon footprint in the autonomous vehicle as desired by the automotive industry stakeholders.

Autonomous vehicles have been envisioned to increase vehicle safety, primarily via the reduction of accidents. However, their design could also affect the vehicle travel demand and energy consumption. Although battery-powered electric and hybrid-electric autonomous vehicles assume more widespread use than conventional autonomous vehicles, energy management is harder and more significant for conventional autonomous vehicles. As such, it is necessary to investigate how to manage energy consumption in conventional autonomous vehicles. In this paper, an energy management system is constructed and analyzed by using a road-power-demand model and an intelligent system to reduce fuel consumption for a conventional autonomous vehicle. The road-power-demand model utilizes three impact factors (i) environment-conditions (ii) driver-behavior, and (iii) vehicle-specifications. The proposed intelligent energy management system includes a fuzzy-logic-system with the aim of generating the desired engine torque, based on the vehicle road power demand and a PID controller to control the air/fuel ratio, by changing the throttle angle. Results show that the intelligent energy management system reduces the vehicle energy consumption from 7.2 to 6.71 L/100 km. Next, the parameters of the fuzzy-logic-system are intelligently optimized by the particle-swarm-optimization method and new results indicate that the vehicle energy consumption is reduced by around 9.58%. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.