Behavioral Stability of Multiple Vehicle Platoons with User Preference via a Competitive Migration Game

Abstract

Highway-dominated urban societies face many challenges in civilian and commercial transportation. Highways have low passenger density and higher rates of accidents and fatalities than bus- and locomotive-dominated urban areas. Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) promise to reduce driver-related highway accidents by shifting responsibility; however, the problem of low passenger density on highways persists. Vehicle Platooning (VP) increases passenger density on highways by coordinating many AVs to follow each other closely, allowing more vehicles to fit within a given length and reducing aerodynamic drag, thereby increasing energy efficiency. This proof-of-concept study introduces a Competitive Migration Game (CMG) applied to the real-time formation of multiple VPs to ensure the behavioral stability of platoon members via Nash Equilibrium (NE) and control the maximum platoon size to maintain highway safety. The CMG also respects user preferences for which platoon to join, whether based on platoon driving characteristics or fleet brand. Simulation results indicate behavioral stability in the formation and management of multiple platoons via NE.