A Comprehensive review on Cruise Control for Intelligent Vehicles

Automatic vehicle speed control is presently one of the most popular research topics throughout the automotive industry and particularly in the Intelligent Transportation Systems field (ITS). Cruise Control (CC) system employs the concept of running at set speed under no obstacle / vehicle in front (velocity Control). CC for the metropolitan areas can significantly enhance the benefits in terms of comfort, safety, traffic flow, noise and emissions with some improved technology. CC fails to work when a vehicle / obstacle is detected in the front of the host vehicle. To overcome this drawback, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system was developed. ACC can also wok in velocity control mode along with distance control mode. In distance control mode ACC can automatically adjust the velocity of the vehicle in order to maintain a proper distance between leading vehicle and the host vehicle. This paper discuss about the various evolutions that has been evolved in the field of cruise control, its recent developments and research trend in the automation of the vehicles in longitudinal/lateral control. The control algorithms like fuzzy logic, sliding mode, genetic algorithm, sensor fusion techniques etc., are used to implement the various level of evolution of cruise control. The techniques with their merits and short comings have been reviewed, keeping safety first and then fuel economy and comfort. The paper concludes with suggestions for future improvement.