Research on multi-train dynamic formation control method based on virtual coupling frame
Published:
Duration: Nov. 2018 - Jun. 2020
Keywords: Multi-train systems, Time-varying formation, Cooperative experiment, Lego EV3
Background
Urban rail transit systems are of crucial importance for the stability, sustainability, and efficiency of public transportation systems. The number of passengers commuting with urban rail transit systems is more than 10 million per day in big cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo. During the peak hours, the departure headway between two consecutive services has been recently reduced to 2 min for some busy urban rail transit lines. With the increase of passenger demand and the saturated operations of trains in urban rail transit lines, it is urgent to explore new train control methods to reduce the consumption of train dispatching during peak hours and improve the efficiency of personnel transportation.
Research content
This project intends to investigate the dynamic formation control method of multiple trains based on virtual connection. First, the modeling problem of multi-train distributed cooperative systems is studied, and the multi-train dynamic formation strategy based on virtual connection is proposed. Then, the effects of constraints such as time delays, switching topology, and finite time on the dynamic formation control are considered. Sufficient conditions for multi-train systems to realize a time-varying formation under multiple constraints are given. Finally, based on the self-developed swarm experimental platform, multi-train time-varying formation experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control protocols.
My work
In this project, my work mainly includes the following three parts:
Survey the cooperative technologies in the field of urban rail transit and participate in the redaction of the project application in the early stage.
Design the multi-train formation tracking control protocols under multiple constraints like switching topologies and time-delays.
Construct a multi-train formation demonstration platform based on Lego EV3 and Optitrack indoor positioning system.
Achievements
The video of the formation experiment of four Lego EV3 trains with a fork in the road is shown below. Enjoy！😃