Safety-oriented control adaptation of autonomous wheeled vehicles for convoy structures

Abstract

The integration of autonomous wheeled vehicles into convoy structures poses significant challenges related to operational safety, vehicle dynamics, and control system integrity. This paper presents a safety-oriented approach to adapting the control of an autonomous wheeled vehicle within the Convoy Systems framework. The study focuses on the functional description of the PERUN platform architecture and addresses convoy-specific requirements such as speed synchronization, and robustness to communication delays under real operating conditions. A control architecture based on strict separation of control levels was adopted, in which the convoy management system influences vehicle motion exclusively at a functional layer, while certified low-level control loops responsible for stability and safety remain unaffected. System integration was achieved through the implementation of a dedicated software module enabling the generation of convoy-level control commands without modifying the mechanical or mechatronic characteristics of the platform. The proposed solution was verified through laboratory integration tests. The results confirm that safe convoy operation can be achieved without modifications to low-level vehicle control algorithms.