A Multi-Scale Control Framework for Electric and Automated Buses in Intercity Lines

This paper proposes a multi-scale control scheme aimed at controlling speed, dwell time, and charging time of electric and automated buses performing the transport service on lines where there are no reserved lanes. The proposed control scheme has two layers characterized by different control objectives, level of detail and time scales. The high-level controller periodically solves a multi-objective optimal control problem formalized to ensure an adequate transport service, while the low-level controller, being based on a more accurate description of the bus dynamics and energy consumption, seeks to follow the high-level control actions while taking into account the effective traffic conditions encountered on the line and the effective dynamic behaviour of the bus. The paper concludes with the application to a case study in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.