Automated Highway System

The Automated Highway System (AHS) concept defines a new relationship between vehicles and the
highway infrastructure. AHS refers to a set of designated lanes on a limited access roadway where
specially equipped vehicles are operated under completely automatic control. AHS uses vehicle and
highway control technologies that shift driving functions from the driver/operator to the vehicle.Throttle,
steering, and braking are automatically controlled to provide safer and more convenient travel. AHS also
uses communication, sensor and obstacle-detection technologies to recognize and react to external
infrastructure conditions. The vehicles and highway cooperate to coordinate vehicle movement, avoid
obstacles and improve traffic flow, improving safety and reducing congestion. In sum, the AHS concept
combines on-board vehicle intelligence with a range of intelligent technologies installed onto existing
highway infrastructure and communication technologies that connect vehicles to highway infrastructure.

The AHS program is designed to influence how and when vehicle-highway automation will be
introduced. AHS deployments will be tailored to meet the needs of public, commercial, transit, and
individual travelers in rural and urban communities. The major goals are to:

1. Improve safety by significantly reducing:

 Fatalities.

 Personal injury.

 Pain and suffering.

 Anxiety and stress of driving.

2. Save money and optimize investment by:

 Maximizing efficiency of the existing infrastructure investment.

 Integrating other ITS services and architecture to achieve smooth traffic flow.

 Using available and near-term applied technology to avoid costs of conventional highway build-out.

 Developing affordable equipment, vehicles, infrastructure, operations, maintenance, and user fees.

 Closing the gap on predicted infrastructure needs.

 Using public/private partnerships for shared risk; using the National AHS Consortium as a global focal
point to influence foreign deployment efforts.

 Reducing fuel consumption and costs, maintenance, wear-and-tear, labor costs, insurance costs, and
property damage.

3. Improve accessibility and mobility by:

 Improving employee on-time performance, resulting in a more effective work force.

 Improving public transportation service, increasing customer access, and expanding service levels,
resulting in increased revenue, reduced costs, and reduced accidents.

 Achieving a smooth traffic flow, reducing delays, travel times, travel time variability, and driver stress.

 Making driving more accessible to less able drivers.

4. Improve environmental efficiencies by:

 Reducing emissions per vehicle-mile travelled.

 Providing a solid base for reliable, lower cost transit.

 Providing an efficient base for electric-powered vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles.

5. Create jobs by:

 Providing a stronger national economy and increasing global competitiveness.

 Increasing jobs in research and development and in early ITS deployment.

 Facilitating technology transfer (e.g., from military to civilian use).

Automated Highway Systems

Methodology

A driver electing to use such an automated highway might first pass through a validation lane, similar to
today's high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) or carpooling lanes. The system would then determine if the car
will function correctly in an automated mode, establish its destination, and deduct any tolls from the
driver's credit account. Improperly operating vehicles would be diverted to manual lanes.

The driver would then steer into a merging area, and the car would be guided through a gate onto an
automated lane. An automatic control system would coordinate the movement of newly entering and
existing traffic. Once travelling in automated mode, the driver could relax until the turnoff. The reverse
process would take the vehicle off the highway. At this point, the system would need to check whether
the driver could retake control, then take appropriate action if the driver were asleep, sick, or even dead.

The alternative to this kind of dedicated lane system is a mixed traffic system, in which automated and
non-automated vehicles would share the roadway. This approach requires more-extensive modifications
to the highway infrastructure, but would provide the biggest payoff in terms of capacity increase.

In fact, a spectrum of approaches can be envisioned for highway automation systems in which the degree
of each vehicle's autonomy varies. On one end of the range would be fully independent or "free-agent"
vehicles with their own proximity sensors that would enable vehicles to stop safely even if the vehicle
ahead were to apply the brakes suddenly. In the middle would be vehicles that could adapt to various
levels of cooperation with other vehicles (platooning). At the other end would be systems that rely to a
lesser or greater degree on the highway infrastructure for automated support. In general, however, most of
the technology would be installed in the car.

The Five Concept Families

 Independent Vehicle Concept:

This concept puts a smart vehicle in the existing infrastructure. In-vehicle technology lets the vehicle
operate automatically with on-board sensors and computers. The vehicle can use data from roadside
systems but does not depend on infrastructure support.

 Cooperative Concept:

This concept lets smart vehicles communicate with each other, although not with the infrastructure. With
on-board radar, vision, and other sensors, these AHS-equipped vehicles will be able to communicate with
each other and coordinate their driving operations, thereby achieving best throughput and safety.

 Infrastructure-Supported Concept:

smart infrastructure can greatly improve the quality of AHS services and better integrate AHS with local
transportation networks. This concept envisions automated vehicles in dedicated lanes using global
information and two-way communication with the smart infrastructure to support vehicle decision-
making and operation.

 Infrastructure-Assisted Concept:

In this concept, the automated roadside system provides inter-vehicle coordination during entry, exit,
merging, and emergencies. This concept may provide the greatest throughput benefit; it also may require
the greatest civil infrastructure investment.

 Adaptable Concept:

This concept acknowledges the fact that AHS implementation will vary by locality. It envisions the
development of a wide range of compatible standards that leave as many of the specific architecture
decisions, solutions, and deployment progressions as possible to area stakeholders.

The Five Layer Theory

The physical layer comprises all the on-board vehicle controllers of the physical components of a vehicle.
These include the engine and transmission, brake and steering control systems, as well as the different
lateral and longitudinal vehicle guidance and range sensors. The main function of the physical layer is to
decouple the longitudinal and lateral vehicle guidance control and to approximately linearize the physical
layer dynamics.

The regulation layer is responsible for the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle, and the
execution of the maneuvers ordered by the coordination layer. The regulation layer must carry out two
longitudinal control tasks. The first task is that of a vehicle follower in a platoon and consists in
maintaining a prescribed constant spacing from the preceding vehicle. The second task is that of a platoon
leader or free agent and consists in safely and efficiently executing a maneuver commanded by the
coordination layer.

The coordination layer is responsible for selecting the activity that the vehicle should attempt or continue
to execute, in order to realize its currently assigned activity plan. It communicates and coordinates its
actions with its peers—the coordination layers of neighboring vehicles—and supervises and commands
the regulation layer to execute or abort maneuvers. It also communicates with the link layer roadside
control system, from which it periodically receives an updated activity plan.

There is one link layer controller for each 0.5 to 5 km-long segment of the highway, called a link. Its task
is to control the traffic flow within the link so as to attain its full capacity and minimize vehicle travel
time and undesirable transient phenomena, such as congestion. A link is itself subdivided in sections, one
per lane. A link receives and discharges traffic flow from and to neighboring links, as well as AHS
entrances and exits. The controller measures aggregated vehicle densities in each of the link’s sections.
These densities are specific to vehicle type, including origin and destination, and whether the vehicle is a
platoon leader, follower or is changing lanes. It broadcasts commands in the form of a specific activity
plan for each vehicle type and section, to the vehicle coordination layer controllers.

The link layer controller receives commands from the network layer in the form of demands on the inlet
traffic flows at the AHS entrances, and outlet flow constraints at the AHS exits, as well as desired inlet-
to-outlet traffic flow split ratios, in case a vehicle can take more than one route to each the same
destination, while travelling in that highway link.

The task of the network layer is to control entering traffic and route traffic flow within the network of
highway links that constitute the AHS, in order to optimize the capacity and average vehicle travel time
of the AHS and minimize transient congestion in any of its highway links.