UAV-guided multi-vehicle cooperative passage control on narrow and curved roads

ZHANG Qian; GUO Ge; WANG Yong-chuan

doi:10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.152

Volume 26 Issue 3

Mar. 2026

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ZHANG Qian, GUO Ge, WANG Yong-chuan. UAV-guided multi-vehicle cooperative passage control on narrow and curved roads[J]. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 2026, 26(3): 60-74. doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.152

Citation:

ZHANG Qian, GUO Ge, WANG Yong-chuan. UAV-guided multi-vehicle cooperative passage control on narrow and curved roads[J]. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 2026, 26(3): 60-74. doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.152

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UAV-guided multi-vehicle cooperative passage control on narrow and curved roads

doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.152

ZHANG Qian^1
,,
GUO Ge^{2, 3
,
,},
WANG Yong-chuan¹

1.
College of Information Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, Liaoning, China
2.
State Key Laboratory of Synthetical Automation for Process Industries, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, Liaoning, China
3.
School of Control Engineering, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei, China

Funds:

National Natural Science Foundation of China 62173079

National Natural Science Foundation of China U1808205

National Natural Science Foundation of China 62573104

Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province F2025501051

More Information

Corresponding author: GUO Ge, professor, PhD, E-mail: geguo@yeah.net
Received Date: 2025-07-29
Accepted Date: 2026-01-23
Rev Recd Date: 2026-01-04
Publish Date: 2026-03-28

Abstract

Abstract

In response to insufficient perception capability, path planning difficulty, and delayed cooperative response of ground vehicles in disaster emergency transportation scenarios involving dense traffic flow and narrow lanes, a predefined-time cooperative control method was proposed for ground vehicles guided by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The wide-area perception and path planning capability of the UAV was utilized to obtain guiding path information for ground traffic and transmit them to the leading vehicle via wireless communication. Bidirectional inter-vehicle communication was then employed to realize information sharing within the vehicle platoon. An extended look-ahead zero-initial coupled error dynamics based on an exponential spacing policy was designed to remove constraints in cooperative control design and effectively prevent error accumulation and cutting-corner behavior on curved roads. Based on the proposed error dynamics, a distributed vehicle controller was developed using backstepping control and the predefined-time stability lemma. Therefore, the predefined-time stability of individual vehicles, platoon mesh stability, and the existence of traffic flow stability was guaranteed. As a result, cooperative response efficiency and traffic smoothness were improved. Results show that the proposed method achieves accurate path tracking and fast convergence of cooperative errors within the predefined time of 5 s under various complex conditions, including narrow roads and curved paths. Evaluation results based on platoon mesh stability and traffic flow stability indicate that the proposed approach effectively suppresses disturbance propagation caused by information transmission and traffic congestion. Traffic safety and flow efficiency are thus significantly enhanced. Therefore, the proposed method demonstrates good engineering applicability and practical potential. The theoretical and technical support can be provided for disaster emergency transportation in intelligent transportation systems.
- intelligent transportation system,
- low-altitude traffic,
- UAV-guided,
- cooperative control,
- distributed control,
- cutting-corner behavior,
- platoon mesh stability,
- traffic flow stability

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References(38)

References

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UAV-guided multi-vehicle cooperative passage control on narrow and curved roads

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