SE538817C2

SE538817C2 - A method and a control unit for determining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon of grouped vehicles

Info

Publication number: SE538817C2
Application number: SE1550389A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Johansson Björn; Flärdh Oscar
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2015-03-31
Filing date: 2015-03-31
Publication date: 2016-12-13
Also published as: DE102016003252A1; SE1550389A1

Abstract

38 SUMMARY Method (400) and control unit (310) for determining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon(110), comprising a grouped set of vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), for use at an upcomingroad section (220-2). The method (400) comprises extracting (402) vehicle related informa-tion, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road section (220-2) with regardto topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); computing (403) a set of candidate ve-locity profiles, based on the extracted (402) information in order to reduce a weighted sumof energy consumption and travel time; transmitting (404) the set of candidate velocity pro-files; receiving (405) information related to the transmitted (404) set of candidate velocityprofiles, from the other vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3); iterating (406) steps 403-405,wherein the iterated computation (405) is made based also on the received (405) informa-tion; determining (407) the set of velocity profiles when an interruption condition for inter-rupting the iteration (406) is fulfilled; and instructing (407) each vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100- 3) to start using a velocity profile upon arrival at the upcoming road section (220-2). (Publ. Fig. 3)

Description

25 30 35 538 817 Thereby, the optimal method of driving, perhaps in particular when driving in hilly terrain, may be different for different vehicles. ln case the first vehicle in the platoon is an unloaded vehicle, it may hardly be affected at all by the uphill, while a heavily loaded following vehicle may not be able to maintain the desired speed.

Another and perhaps even bigger problem in particular for platoons comprising a large num- ber of vehicles driving in hilly terrain is that the vehicles are in different states of inclination in all times, except when the road is horizontal.

For example, in case of uphill driving followed by a downhill, a single vehicle is normally releasing the accelerator when approaching the hill peak in order to roll over the peak and downhill without any driving torque in the powertrain of the vehicle. Thereby fuel is saved.

However, when a platoon is driving in the same hilly environment (uphill followed by downhill) and the first vehicle of the platoon is approaching the hill peak, the following vehicles are still driving uphill and need to accelerate in order to overcome the hill. ln case the first vehicle of the platoon release the accelerator when approaching the hill peak, the following vehicles will have to brake away energy in order to keep the distance to the forward vehicle. A follow- ing vehicle in the platoon which may be in the beginning of the uphill, may after the brake be required to change gears, leading to further lost velocity during the time of the gear change.

The vehicle then has to speed up for reducing the gap to the forward vehicle, causing also the behind vehicle to speed up etc. Such inconsequent braking and acceleration will increase the fuel consumption of the vehicles in the platoon substantially.

The reversed problem may appear in the opposite situation when the first vehicle in the pla- toon starts driving downhill and increase speed due to gravity while the following vehicle may be driving on plain ground, or uphill and thus the following vehicle has to accelerate in order to keep the time gap, just for start braking some seconds later.

Thereby energy is unnecessarily wasted. Also, the brakes are excessively used, which may lead to early replacement due to wear, i.e. increased maintenance costs. lt also presents a potential security problem, if a vehicle should run out of brake capacity when driving in a platoon. 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Thus, previously known look-ahead control strategies for a single vehicle in order to reduce fuel consumption are not necessarily suitable for platoons.

There are studies indicating that platoon driving is more fuel consuming in hilly terrain than normal driving. The above described problems are true for any kind of vehicles, but the ef- fects will increase with vehicle weight, as more energy is required for accelerating a heavy vehicle like a truck or bus in comparison with a car.

As these described scenarios, and similar variants of them, will lead to increased fuel con- sumption, it is desirable to find a solution in order to achieve the advantages of platoon driv- ing.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and improve platooning.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a coor- dinating vehicle in a platoon, for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon. The platoon comprises a grouped set of vehicles, for use at an upcoming road section situated ahead of the platoon in the driving direction. The method comprises extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road section with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. Further the method comprises computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, based on the extracted vehicle related information in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy con- sumption and travel time of the coordinating vehicle with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. Also, the method comprises transmitting the computed set of candidate velocity profiles to be received by at least one other vehicle in the platoon. The method furthermore comprises receiving information related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle at the upcoming road section. ln some embodiments, the method also comprises iterating the computation, the transmission and the reception of information and wherein the iterated computation is made based also on the received information. ln further addition, the method also comprises de- termining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, when an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled. The method comprises instructing each vehicle in the platoon to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section. 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control unit in a control unit in a coordinating vehicle in a platoon configured for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon, comprising a grouped set of vehicles, for use at an upcoming road section situated ahead of the platoon in the driving direction. The control unit is configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the defined upcoming road section with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. Additionally, the control unit is configured for computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, based on the extracted vehicle related information in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. Furthermore the control unit is configured for trans- mitting the computed set of candidate velocity profiles to be received by at least one other vehicle in the platoon. The control unit is further configured for receiving information related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle when driving at the upcoming road section. The control unit is also configured for iterating the computation of the set of candidate velocity profiles, the transmission of the computed set of candidate velocity profiles, and the reception of infor- mation. Furthermore, the control unit is also configured for determining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, when an interruption condi- tion for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled. The control unit is also configured for instructing each vehicle in the platoon to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section.

According to a third aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a vehi- cle in a platoon, for assisting a coordinating vehicle in the platoon in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon to use at an upcoming road section situated ahead of the platoon in the driving direction. The method comprises receiving a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, from the coordinating vehi- cle, or from another vehicle, and a request for information related to the upcoming road sec- tion. Further, the method also comprises extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance at the upcoming road section, based on topography of the upcoming road section. The method in addition comprises computing information related to the re- ceived set of candidate velocity profiles, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy con- sumption and travel time when driving at the upcoming road section with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. The method also comprises transmitting the computed infor- 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 mation. Additionally the method further comprises iterating the reception, extraction, compu- tation and transmission as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received. Also the method comprises receiving an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a computing unit in a vehicle in a platoon, configured for assisting a coordinating vehicle in the platoon in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon to use at an upcoming road section situated ahead of the present road section in the driving direction. The computing unit is configured for receiving a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon at the upcoming road section, from the coordinating vehicle, or from another vehicle, and a request for information related to the upcoming road section. Furthermore the computing unit is con- figured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road section based on topography of the upcoming road section. The computing unit in addition is configured for computing information related to the received set of candi- date velocity profiles, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time when driving at the upcoming road section with regard to topology of the upcoming road section. The computing unit is also configured for transmitting the computed information. ln addition the computing unit is configured for iterating reception, extraction, computation and transmission as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received. The computing unit is further configured for receiving an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section.

Thanks to the described aspects, platooning may be made in an energy saving way also in hilly terrain, as unnecessary braking and acceleration respectively is avoided. Thereby en- ergy consumption of the platoon as a whole is reduced, while maintaining a safe distance between the vehicles in the platoon, thereby avoiding accidents. By letting one vehicle select a candidate set of velocity profiles and then allowing other vehicles in the platoon to influence the candidate set by returning a gradient step, any vehicle in the platoon may influence the determination of the candidate set without revealing any possibly sensitive information con- cerning the own vehicle. Further, it is possible to divide the road in segments of any length, also brief and possibly overlapping road segments, enabling more precisely selected velocity profiles for the vehicles in the platoon. Furthermore, the described aspects are robust and easily understandable, thereby presenting an easily implemented solution to energy saving platooning. Thereby, platooning is improved. 10 15 20 25 30 538 817 Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle organised in a platoon according to an embodiment of the invenüon; Figure 2A illustrates a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2B illustrates a platoon according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2C illustrates a first vehicle in a platoon according to an embodiment of the inven- tion; Figure 2D illustrates a first vehicle in a platoon according to an embodiment of the inven- tion; Figure 3 illustrates a vehicle in a platoon according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method; Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method in a vehicle; Figure 7 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as methods and control units, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are pro- vided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth- en/vise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro- cedures described herein. 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Figure 1 illustrates a scenario with a multitude of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, driving in a driving direction 105, with an inter-vehicular distance t1, t2, organised in a platoon 110, driv- ing on a road 120.

The vehicle platoon may be described as a chain of coordinated, inter-communicating vehi- cles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 travelling at a given inter-vehicular distance t1 , t2 and velocity.

One of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be a coordinating vehicle 100-1, such as e.g. the first vehicle in the platoon 110. This is however only a non-limiting example.

The inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may be fixed or variable in different embodiments. Fur- ther, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may comprise a time gap, or a length distance in different embodiments. Also, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may be identical between some or all of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 in some embodiments.

Alternatively however, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 between each of the vehicles 100- 1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be distinct. Further, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 in length between any vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may vary with the speed of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, as the time gapst1, t2 will create length distances of different length in different vehicle speeds (except when driving at very low speed, ap- proaching a stationary condition, where a certain minimum distance in length may be de- sired). Thus the distances t1, t2 may be e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some meters or some tenths of meters in some embodiments, such as e.g. 20-40 meters. In other embodiments, the distances t1, t2 may be e.g. some fractions of a second such as e.g. some tenths of a second. The inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may be the same between at least some of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 in some embodiments. Alterna- tively, each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may have a different distance t1, t2 to the vehicle following or leading vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, than all other vehicles 100- 1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

The low inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 in the platoon 110, in comparison with the normal distance kept between non-coordinated vehicles, leads to reduced air drag for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, leading to reduced energy consumption.

The distance to the preceding vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be measured by a e.g. radar unit or lidar unit in some embodiments, configured for emitting radio waves and receiving 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 reflexions of the emitted radio waves, reflected by the preceding vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100- 3. By continuously or at certain time intervals measuring the distance to the preceding vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 and also continuously or at certain time intervals determine the speed of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, e.g. from the speedometer of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100- 3. Thereby, the time gap t may be calculated by dividing the measured distance in length with the determined speed.

According to some alternative embodiments, another on-board rangefinder sensor may be used instead of the radar unit, such as e.g. a laser rangefinder, an ultrasonic sensor emitting an ultrasonic wave and detecting and analysing the reflections, or other similar devices. ln order to keep the respective time gap t1, t2 signals may be generated for increasing the speed of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or braking the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, respec- tively. Thereby a safe distance is upheld to the preceding vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may comprise e.g. a truck, a bus, a car, a motorcycle or any similar vehicle or other means of conveyance. The vehicles 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 may comprise vehicles of the same, or different types.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be driver controlled or driverless autonomously con- trolled vehicles in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 are subsequently described as having a driver.

According to some embodiments, a common set of velocity profiles is selected for all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, to be used at an upcoming road section ahead of the platoon 110. The selection is made by distributed optimisation, where vehicles 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 may optimise the velocity profile with regard to the topography of the upcoming road section ahead of the platoon 110. Each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may have its own utility function and the distributed problem may be to find the common set of velocity profiles that maximises the sum of the utility functions. ln some embodiments, one of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, such as e.g. the first vehicle 100-1 in the platoon 110, may prepare a candidate set of velocity profiles which is then distributed to another vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 1 10. The other, receiving vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may improve the received set of velocity profiles by 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 taking a gradient step, using the own local utility function. The improved set of velocity pro- files may then be sent to yet another vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 etc., around a plurality, or all, of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. Thus all the involved vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may influence the computation and selection of the set of velocity profiles, without having to expose any sensitive information. Depending on the utility function, different properties of the resulting driving profile may be achieved. Another advantage with this embodiments is that little or no coordination is required. ln some alternative embodiments, one of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, such as e.g. the first vehicle 100-1 in the platoon 110, may prepare a candidate set of velocity profiles which is then distributed to all other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the pla- toon 110. Each receiving vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may compute a gradient step, using the own local utility function, and return the computed gradient step to the first vehicle 100-1. The first vehicle 100-1 may then collect gradient steps from all other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 and prepare yet a candidate set of velocity profiles, based on the collected gradient steps, which again may be distributed to the other vehicles 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, etc.

With this embodiment, standard methods of optimisation may be used as gradient steps are collected from all other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3. The individual values of utility functions may also be collected so that the first vehicle 100-1 may keep track of how the aggregated utility is developed. This embodiment may require some coordination but may provide a faster convergence to the optimal set of velocity profiles. The selection of computation algo- rithms may be made based on simulations.

The communication of candidate set of velocity profiles and gradient steps may be made wirelessly, e.g. by making a wireless broadcast.

The evaluation may result in a rating or ranking of the received candidate velocity profiles. ln some embodiments, a veto may be applied by a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 for a candi- date velocity profile that would result in an accident (or that a minimum distance t1, t2 be- tween the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 is exceeded), or that would be impossible to follow by the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 due to constraints of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3.

Thereby, an appropriate set of velocity profiles for the upcoming road section is selected and determined, enabling a reduced and/ or low energy consumption for the platoon 110 as a 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 whole. Thereby energy efficient driving may be made by the platoon 110 in all kind of land- scapes, including hilly terrain. Another advantage of the described method is that a particular velocity profile, which is very disadvantageous for a particular vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be disregarded, providing improved fairness between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

Reducing the energy consumption, when the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 are using fossil fuel, leads to not only cheaper transport, but also reduced emissions of harmful exhaust gas.

A further advantage of the described method is that it is robust and easy to understand, making it easier to implement compared to other alternative, more complex methods.

Yet an advantage is the flexibility of the method, which may be implemented in a distributed manner, enabling all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 to participate in the decision concerning the velocity profile selection for the platoon 110, but may also be cen- tralised to one vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or possibly to a vehicle external node.

Figure 2A illustrates an example of a scenario where a single vehicle 100 is driving on the road 120 in the driving direction 105 and has arrived to a hilly region.

The vehicle 100 has been driving uphill, and has reached the hill peak. When the vehicle 100 was approaching the hill peak at a first position 210-1, the driver may release the accel- erator and roll over the hill peak, firstly with descending velocity, but after having passed the hill peak, the vehicle 100 gain velocity in the downhill slope. At a second point 210-2, the driver may again start pressing down the accelerator in order to gain velocity and momentum for overcoming an ahead uphill slope (out of Figure 2A).

This method, which may be optimal from a fuel consumption perspective concerning a single vehicle 100 is however not appropriate during platooning, as will be further exemplified in Figure 2B.

Figure 2B illustrates the same, or a similar hill as illustrated in Figure 2A, but with a platoon 110 comprising various vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 with a respective distance t1, t2 in be- tween them, driving in a driving direction 105; i.e. from the right to the left in the Figure.

When the first vehicle 100-1 in the platoon 110 is approaching the hill peak, and from a single vehicle optimisation point of view would benefit from releasing the accelerator in order to roll 10 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 over the top and roll downhill, thereby saving energy. However, the other following vehicles 100-2, 100-3 are still driving uphill and releasing the accelerator is inappropriate for these vehicles 100-2, 100-3, as they then may not have enough momentum for overcoming the hill.

Another problem is that the different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may have different weight and/ or different weight/ power ratio. Thereby, different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be affected differently both in downhill and uphill. ln hilly terrain, perhaps in particular for heavy vehicles such as e.g. trucks when travelling along an incline, the gravitational force has a strong influence. ln contrast with a passenger vehicle, heavy vehicles is typically not able to produce a sufficient driving torque to maintain the velocity when travelling along an uphill with a slope greater than approximately 3.5% at 90 km/h, mentioned merely as a non-limiting example. Similarly, when facing a downhill heavy vehicles will typically experience a speed increase if the slope is less than approxi- mately -1.4% in another non-limiting example. These values will vary considerably between different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 depending on vehicle configuration, engine, vehicle weight, air resistance, roll resistance etc. Hence, the induced gravitational force can act as a positive or negative longitudinal force depending on the incline of the road 120.

Different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may have different weight and/ or different weight/ power ratio. Thus, in order for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 to pass the hill in a grouped manner and still earning the advantages with the platoon formation, a set of velocity profiles for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 has to be determined, that minimises or at least reduces a weighted sum of energy con- sumption and travel time of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3.

Thus some kind of compromlse has to be calculated, that minimises or at least reduces the energy consumption of the platoon 1 10 as awhole. The set of velocity profiles for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may comprise one single velocity profile shared by all the vehicles 100- 1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110; or one distinct velocity profile for each vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, and everything in between, i.e. that some vehicles 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 share a common velocity profile. The bigger distances t1, t2 there is between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, the bigger differences there may be between the velocity profiles within the set of velocity profiles. Thus there may be a relation between the distances t1, t2 between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, and the velocity of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in some embodiments. 11 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Figure 2C illustrates how the selection of the set of velocity profiles for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be made when driving on the road 120 on a current road section 220-1, for determining the set of velocity profiles to be used in a upcoming road section 220-2. Thereby, the computation and selection of the velocity profiles may be made in tranquillity.

The road slope may be determined at different geographical positions of the road 120 ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105, such as e.g. at the current road section 220- 1 and the upcoming road section 220-2, and/ or within the upcoming road section 220-2.

The upcoming road section 220-2 may be defined by one of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100- 3 in the platoon 110, or they may have been previously agreed upon. ln the illustrated embodiment, the upcoming road section 220-2 starts where the current road section 220-1 ends, i.e. the road sections 220-1, 220-2 are not overlapping each other. How- ever, in other embodiments, as illustrated in Figure 2D, the road sections 220-1, 220-2 may be overlapping each other, partly or entirely. ln embodiments where the road sections 220-1, 220-2 are overlapping each other, the set of vehicle profiles determined for the upcoming road section 220-2 takes precedence over the determined set of vehicle profiles used at the current road section 220-1.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of how any of the previously scenario in Figure 1 and/ or Figures 2B- 2D may be perceived by the driver of a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. Although the second vehicle 100-2 in the platoon 110 is illustrated, this is merely a non- limiting example. Any other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, or some or all of them may be equally or similarly equipped.

The vehicle 100-2 thus follow the preceding vehicle 100-1 at a distance t1. The vehicle 100- 2 comprises a control unit 310 configured for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon 110. ln some embodiments, the control unit 310 may comprise, or be part of an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).

ACC is an optional cruise control system for vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 ahead. The ACC may utilise e.g. on-board sensors such as a radar or a laser sensor for 12 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 maintaining the distance t1, t2 to the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in front, or behind, and/ or satellites, roadside beacons or mobile infrastructures as reflectors or transmitters on the back of other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 ahead, in different embodiments. ln some embodiments, an optional display 370 may be comprised in the vehicle 100-2, con- nected to the control unit 310. Thereby, information associated with the velocity profiles and/ or the platoon 110 such as e.g. current size of the distance/ time gap t1, t2, current road slope ahead of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, etc.

The vehicle 100-2 also comprises a vehicle mounted distance measuring device 320, such as e.g. radar unit, a rangefinder sensor, a stereo camera, an ultrasonic sensor emitting an ultrasonic wave and detecting and analysing the reflections or similar device based on radar, infra-red light or micro waves for detecting the vehicle 100-1 in front, and determine the dis- tance t1.

Further, the vehicle 100-2 comprises a positioning unit 330. The positioning unit 330 may be based on a satellite navigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Positioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like. Thus the positioning unit 330 may comprise a GPS receiver.

The geographical position of the vehicle 100-2 may be determined continuously or at certain predetermined or configurable time intervals according to various embodiments.

Positioning by satellite navigation is based on distance measurement using triangulation from a number of satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4. The satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 continuously transmit information about time and date (for example, in coded form), identity (which satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 which broadcasts), status, and where the satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 are situated at any given time. GPS satellites 340-1, 340- 2, 340-3, 340-4 sends information encoded with different codes, for example, but not neces- sarily based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This allows information from an in- dividual satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 distinguished from the others' information, based on a unique code for each respective satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4. This information can then be transmitted to be received by the appropriately adapted positioning unit 330 in the vehicle 100-2.

Distance measurement can according to some embodiments comprise measuring the differ- ence in the time it takes for each respective satellite signal transmitted by the respective 13 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4, to reach the positioning unit 330. As the radio signals travel at the speed of light, the distance to the respective satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340- 4 may be computed by measuring the signal propagation time.

The positions of the satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 are known, as they continuously are monitored by approximately 15-30 ground stations located mainly along and near the earth's equator. Thereby the geographical position, i.e. latitude and longitude, of the vehicle 100-2 may be calculated by determining the distance to at least three satellites 340-1, 340- 2, 340-3, 340-4 through triangulation. For determination of altitude, signals from four satel- lites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 may be used according to some embodiments.

Having determined the geographical position of the vehicle 100-2, and also determined the driving direction 105 of the vehicle 100-2 and the platoon 110, the control unit 310 may ex- tract a road slope at a geographical position of the road 120 ahead of the vehicle 100-2 in the determined driving direction 105, such as e.g. on the upcoming road section 220-2.

The topography i.e. road slope of the upcoming road section 220-2 ahead of the vehicle 100- 2 may be extracted from a database 350. The database 350 may be situated within the vehicle 100-2 in some embodiments, or alternatively external to the vehicle 100-2, and ac- cessible via a wireless interface. ln the database 350, different geographical positions are stored associated with a respective road slope values, which may be extracted by using a geographical position and a direction as input values.

The topography of the upcoming road section 220-2 is important when determining the ve- locity profile for the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. For example, when arriving at a long and steep downhill, any, some or all of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may like to modify a mode or state of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, such as e.g. velocity and/ or the charge level of the battery etc., in order to upload the battery when rolling down the hill.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may communicate with each other over awireless interface. Thus the first vehicle 100-1 may comprise a first transceiver 360-1 and the second vehicle 100-2 a second transceiver 360-2. 14 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 The wireless communication may be e.g. a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) signal, or any other wireless signal based on, or at least inspired by wireless communication technology such as Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT), the communication protocol IEEE 802.11p, Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) or infrared transmission to name but a few possible examples of wireless commu- nications.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 in a coordinating vehicle 100-1 in a platoon 110, according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon 110, for use at an upcoming road section 220-2 situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105. The platoon 110 com- prises a grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3.

The driving direction 105 of the vehicle 100 may be determined based on the location of the destination of the journey, or by extrapolating the driving direction based on previously de- termined geographical positions and possibly knowledge of the road direction, e.g. from stored map data.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, such as a truck, a bus or a car. The number of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be any number exceeding one, such as e.g. 2, 3, w.

The coordinating vehicle 100-1 may be the first vehicle in the platoon 110. However, any vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 at any position in the platoon 110 may be the coordinating vehi- cle in different embodiments.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may communicate with other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100- 3 in the platoon 110, and possibly also with other vehicles or entities, via wireless communi- cation signalling, based on e.g. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication or any other wire- less communication technology such as Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT), or infrared transmission to name but a few possi- ble examples of wireless communications.

The vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 are driving in the platoon 110 with a respective distance t1, t2 between each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. The inter-vehicular dis- tances t1, t2 may be the same between some or all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in some 15 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 embodiments. Alternatively, different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may keep a different dis- tance t1, t2 to the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in front. The inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may also vary within an interval in some embodiments. The inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may be measured in time, then often referred to as a time gap, e.g. of 0.1 second, 1 second etc. However, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may alternatively be measured in length distance, e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some meters, some tenths of meters, etc. ln some embodiments, the distances t1, t2 between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be extended when an altitude difference between the highest and lowest point of the upcoming road section 220-2 exceeds a threshold value. Thus the platoon 110 according to those embodiments may be dissolved in hilly terrain. ln some embodiments, the inter-vehicular distances t1, t2 may be extended by multiplication with a factor > 1, such as e.g. 2, 3, °°. ln some embodiments, the distances t1, t2 may be variable based on the road slope of the upcoming road section 220-2 by increasing the distances t1, t2 when the road slope is neg- ative, indicating downhill, and/ or increasing the variable time gap t1, t2 when the road slope is positive, indicating uphill, in some alternative embodiments.

The set of velocity profiles may comprise one distinct velocity profile for each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 in some embodiments. However in some embodiments, the set of velocity profiles may comprise one velocity profile for the whole platoon 110 to share, or at least for some vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 to share.

The set of velocity profiles may comprise one distinct velocity profile for each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 in some embodiments. ln order to correctly be able to determine the set of velocity profiles, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-408. However, some of these steps 401-408 may be per- formed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step 401. Further, the described steps 401 -408 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the num- bering suggests. ln some embodiments, steps 403-405 may be iterated in some embodi- ments. ln some embodiments, steps 403-405 may be iterated until an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled, where after steps 406-408 are performed. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps: 16 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Step 401 which may be performed only in some embodiments, may comprise distributing geographical information defining the upcoming road section 220-2.

The upcoming road section 220-2 may however be predefined in some embodiments. ln other embodiments, any of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may deter- mine and define the upcoming road section 220-2.

The topography i.e. road slope of the upcoming road section 220-2 may be stored in a data- base 350, associated with geographical positions at the upcoming road section 220-2. The road sections 220-1, 220-2 may be overlapping in some embodiments.

Step 402 comprises extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle perfor- mance in the upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2, from the own, coordinating vehicle 100-1.

The extracted vehicle related information may comprise e.g. modes or states of the coordi- nating vehicle 100-1, gear ratios in the gearbox of the coordinating vehicle 100-1, minimum and maximum speed of the coordinating vehicle 100-1, air drag, speed and load-dependent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic reservoir, exhaust after treat- ment system temperature, emissions and similar information relevant for vehicle perfor- mance on the upcoming road section 220-2.

Step 403 comprises computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, based on the extracted 402 vehicle related infor- mation in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of the coordinating vehicle 100-1 (in the first iteration), with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2.

Thus the set of candidate velocity profiles for the platoon 1 10 with the smallest weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time may be determined, e.g. the set of profiles having the lowest possible energy consumption while passing the upcoming road section 220-2 within a velocity interval, such as e.g. between 70-80 km/h (in a non-limiting example), based on the extracted vehicle related information from the own coordinating vehicle 100-1. Typically the lowest velocity in the velocity interval may be kept while driving uphill and the highest velocity in the velocity interval in the downhill. 17 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 ln some embodiments, a minimum velocity may be predetermined which has to be kept by all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be determined. Also, correspond- ingly, a maximum velocity may be predetermined (by legal reasons), such as e.g. 80 km/h, or 90 km/h depending on vehicle type and legislation.

The evaluation may be based on the topography or road inclination of the upcoming road section 220-2. The road inclination will typically vary with the geographical position when driving through the upcoming road section 220-2, e.g. when driving in a hilly region. The road inclination of the upcoming road section 220-2 may be extracted from a database, which may be situated on board the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or in a database external to the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, accessible via the previously discussed wireless interface.

The different road inclination at different geographical positions may influence different vehi- cles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 differently, e.g. depending on different weight, weight/ power ratio and other parameters that may be different and unique to each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

The weight/ power ratio, or power loading, may be a calculation commonly applied to vehi- cles in general, to enable the comparison of one vehicle's performance to another. lt is used as a measurement of performance of a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 as a whole, with the weight (or mass) of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 divided by the engine's power output, to give a metric that is independent of the vehicle*s size.

The weight/ power ratio of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be measured by a weight sensor on the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or estimated based on the load in some embod- iments, and a stored power value.

However, the road inclination may also influence the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 based on modes or states of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, gear ratios in the gearbox of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, minimum and maximum speed of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, speed and load-dependent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic res- ervoir, exhaust after treatment system temperature, emissions and similar information rele- vant for vehicle performance on the upcoming road section 220-2, which may be different for different vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. 18 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Any candidate velocity profile that results in that minimum distances t1, t2 between any ve- hicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 cannot be kept may be disregarded from the determined set of velocity profiles. The minimum distances t1, t2 may be set for security reasons in order to avoid a collision and may be pre-set to e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some meters, etc.

Step 404 comprises transmitting the computed 403 set of candidate velocity profiles to be received by at least one other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

The set of candidate velocity profiles may be communicated via the above described wireless communication signalling, for example broadcasted so that any vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 is able to receive it in some embodiments. ln other embodiments, the set of candidate velocity profiles is sent to a dedicated other single vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, for further computations.

Step 405 comprises receiving information related to the transmitted 404 set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle 100- 1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 at the upcoming road section 220-2.

The information may comprise a gradient step, i.e. a modification of the transmitted 404 set of candidate velocity profiles in some embodiments. This may be referred to as gradient information.

The information related to the transmitted 404 set of velocity profiles may in some embodi- ments comprise a modified set of velocity profiles, wherein a plurality of vehicles 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 subsequently receives the modified set of velocity profiles, and modify it in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2 and transmit the modified set of velocity profiles to be received by yet another vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100- 3 in the platoon 110. ln some embodiments, the information related to the transmitted 404 set of velocity profiles may comprise a modification of the received set of velocity profiles. A plurality of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may receive the transmitted 404 set of velocity pro- files, and may modify the set of velocity profiles in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy 19 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 consumption and travel time for the own vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving on the upcoming road section 220-2, and send the modification to one particular vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3, which compile the respective modifications and prepare yet a set of velocity pro- files, based on the received modifications.

The information related to the transmitted 404 set of velocity profiles is computed in respec- tive vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in order to minimise the energy consumption and travel time for said vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving on the upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2, based on modes or states of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, gear ratios in the gearbox of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, minimum and maximum speed of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, speed and load-depend- ent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic reservoir, exhaust after treatment system temperature, emissions and similar information relevant for the vehicle performance on the upcoming road section 220-2.

Step 406 comprises iterating the above described steps 403-405, wherein the iterated com- putation 405 is made based in addition also on the received 405 information.

The iteration may be performed until an interruption condition is fulfilled. Such interruption condition for interrupting the iteration 406 may comprise: the difference between each itera- tively computed 403 set of candidate velocity profiles is smaller than a threshold value; the norm of the gradient information is smaller than a threshold value; a predetermined limit of numbers of iterations is reached such as e.g. 5-10 times; a time limit is reached such as e.g. 30 seconds or five minutes; or the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2, in different embodiments.

Step 407 comprises determining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, based on the received 405 information, when an interrup- tion condition for interrupting the iteration 406 is fulfilled.

The set of velocity profiles may be determined so that minimum distances t1, t2 between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 are maintained when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2, in some embodiments. 20 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 The set of velocity profiles may in some embodiments be determined so that all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 are able to follow the set of velocity profiles and maintain maximum distances t1, t2 to the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in front when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Step 408 comprises instructing each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 comprised in the platoon 110 to start using a velocity profile in the determined 407 set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Thus the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may start using the determined velocity profiles simultaneously when arriving at the upcoming road section 220-2, e.g. when the first vehicle 100-1 of the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2; or when any vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220- 2. ln some embodiments, vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may start using the determined respective velocity profiles as they pass a geographical position and enter the upcoming road section 220-2. ln such embodiments, the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 consecutively may start using the respective velocity profile. ln some embodiments, when at least some of the steps in the method 400 has been iterated, step 408 may be performed when the platoon 110, or the first vehicle 100-1 of the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a system 500 in a vehicle platoon 110. The system 500 comprises a control unit 310, in a coordinating vehicle 100-1 of the platoon 110, for determining a set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at an upcoming road section 220-2, situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105. The platoon 110 comprises a grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, wherein the coordinating ve- hicle 100-1 is one vehicle, e.g. the first vehicle in the platoon 110.

The control unit 310 of the coordinating vehicle 100-1 may thus perform at least some of the previously described steps 401-408 according to the method 400 described above and illus- trated in Figure 4.

The coordinating vehicle 100-1 may be one of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, such as e.g. the first vehicle 100-1 in the platoon 110, or any other vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 at any arbitrary position in the platoon 110. 21 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Thus the control unit 310 in the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 is configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the defined upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. Furthermore the control unit 310 is also configured for computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, based on the extracted vehicle related information in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. ln addition, the control unit 310 is also configured for transmitting the computed set of candidate velocity profiles to be re- ceived by at least one other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

Also the control unit 310 is configured for receiving information related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcom- ing road section 220-2. The received information may comprise either gradient information or a modified set of candidate velocity profiles in different embodiments.

Also the control unit 310 is configured for iterating the computation of the set of candidate velocity profiles, the transmission of the computed set of candidate velocity profiles, and the reception of information. The control unit 31 O is further configured for determining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, when an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled. Such interruption condition may comprise e.g. the difference between each iteratively computed 403 set of candidate velocity profiles is smaller than a threshold value; the norm of the gradient information is smaller than a threshold value; a predetermined limit of numbers of iterations is reached; a time limit is reached; or the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Also, the control unit 310 is configured for determining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, based on the received information. ln addition, the control unit 310 is further configured for instructing each vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 comprised in the platoon 110 to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

The control unit 310 may thus be configured for iterating at least some of the steps 403-405 of the method 400 for a predetermined, or undetermined amount of times. 22 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 ln some embodiments, the control unit 310 may further be configured for processing infor- mation related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information com- prises a modified set of velocity profiles, or a gradient step.

Further, the control unit 310 may be configured for determining the set of velocity profiles so that minimum distances t1, t2 between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 are maintained when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2.

The control unit 310 may also be configured for determining the set of velocity profiles so that all vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 are able to follow the set of velocity profiles and maintain maximum distances t1, t2 to the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in front when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2. ln some embodiments, the control unit 310 may further be configured for distributing geo- graphical information defining the upcoming road section 220-2.

The control unit 310 may further be configured for extending the distances between the ve- hicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, when an altitude difference between the high- est and lowest point of the upcoming road section 220-2 exceeds a threshold value.

Also, the control unit 310 may be configured for iterating steps 403-405 of the method 400, until the difference between each iteratively computed velocity profile is smaller than a threshold value, or until the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2, when steps 407-408 are performed.

Further, the control unit 310 may be configured for processing one distinct velocity profile of the set of velocity profiles for each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110.

The control unit 310 may further, in some embodiments be configured for instructing each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 comprised in the platoon 110 to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Also, in some embodiments, the control unit 310 may be further configured for disregarding any candidate velocity profiles that result in that minimum distances t1, t2 between any ve- hicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 cannot be kept, from the determined set of velocity profiles. 23 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Further, the control unit 310 may be configured for distributing geographical information de- fining the upcoming road section. Such geographical information may comprise coordinates or other similar means of determining geographical position.

The control unit 310 may in some embodiments be additionally configured for extending the distances t1, t2 between the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, when an alti- tude difference between the highest and Iowest point of the upcoming road section 220-2 exceeds a threshold value.

The control unit 310 may comprise a receiving circuit 510 configured for receiving wireless and/ or wired signals from e.g. a distance measuring device 320 and a positioning device 330.

The control unit 310 may also comprise a processor 520 configured for performing at least some of the calculating or computing of the control unit 310. Thus the processor 520 may be configured for determining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon 110, comprising a grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, for use at an upcoming road section 220-2 situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105.

The processor 520 may thus be further configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the defined upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. Further, the processor 520 may be addition- ally configured for computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, based on the extracted vehicle related information in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. The processor 520 may also be further con- figured for transmitting the computed set of candidate velocity profiles to be received by at least one other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110. ln addition, the method may be configured for receiving information related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3 in the platoon 110, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2. The processor 520 may additionally be configured for iterating the computation of the set of candidate velocity profiles, the transmission of the computed set of candidate velocity profiles, and the reception of information. The processor 520 is further configured for deter- mining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, when an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled. Such interruption 24 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 condition may comprise e.g. the difference between each iteratively computed set of candi- date velocity profiles is smaller than a threshold value; the norm of the gradient information is smaller than a threshold value; a predetermined limit of numbers of iterations is reached; a time limit is reached; or the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2.

The processor 520 may also be configured for instructing each vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 comprised in the platoon 1 10 to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Such processor 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Cen- tral Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Applica- tion Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression ”processor” may thus rep- resent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the control unit 310 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodiments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodi- ments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transis- tors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROIVI (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROIVI), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments.

Further, the control unit 500 may comprise a signal transmitter 530. The signal transmitter 530 may be configured for transmitting a control signal over a Wired or wireless interface to a wireless transmitter 360 which in turn may signal or broadcast wireless signals to vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 of the platoon 110.

The previously described steps 401 -408 to be performed in the control unit 310 may be im- plemented through the one or more processors 520 within the control unit 310, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 401- 408. Thus a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 401- 408 in the control unit 310 may perform the method 400 comprising at least some of the steps 401-408 for determining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon 110, comprising a 25 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, for use in a upcoming road section 220-2, situ- ated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processors 520 of the control unit 310.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step 401-408 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more proces- sors 520 of the control unit 310. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROIVI disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropri- ate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control unit 310 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 comprising a con- trol unit 310 as described above.

Additionally, some embodiments may comprise a stationary central node 380 comprising a control unit 310 as described above. The stationary central node 380 may comprise e.g. a server, or a cloud service in some embodiments.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a method 600 in a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in a platoon 110, according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 6 shows the method 600 for assisting a coordinating vehicle 100-1 in the platoon 110 in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon 110, for use at an upcoming road section 220-2 situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105. ln order to correctly be able to assist the other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in determining the set of velocity profiles, the method 600 may comprise a number of steps 601-607. How- ever, some of these steps 601-607 may be performed in alternative manners. Further, the described steps 601 -607 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 600 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 601 which is comprised only in some embodiments, comprises receiving geographical information defining the upcoming road section 220-2, from the coordinating vehicle 100-1. 26 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 The upcoming road section 220-2 may be predefined in some embodiments. ln other em- bodiments, the coordinating vehicle 100-1 may determine and define the upcoming road section 220-2.

Step 602 comprises receiving a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, from the coordinating vehicle 100-1, or from any other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, and a request for information related to the upcoming road section 220-2.

The requested information related to the upcoming road section 220-2 comprises modes or states of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, gear ratios in the gearbox of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, minimum and maximum speed of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, speed and load-dependent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic reservoir, ex- haust after treatment system temperature, emissions and similar information relevant for ve- hicle performance on the upcoming road section 220-2. These are merely some examples of some parameters that may be comprised in the requested information.

Step 603 comprises extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle perfor- mance at the upcoming road section 220-2, from the own vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, based on topography of the upcoming road section 220-2.

Some vehicle related information such as e.g. the weight of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be measured by a weight sensor on the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, or estimated based on the load, in some embodiments.

Step 604 comprises computing information related to the received 602 set of candidate ve- locity profiles, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time for the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2.

Step 605 comprises transmitting the computed 604 information.

The information may be transmitted wirelessly, to be received by the coordinating vehicle 100-1, or the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 having transmitted the set of candidate velocity profiles in different embodiments. 27 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 Step 606 comprises iterating steps 602-605 for as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received 602.

Step 607 comprises receiving an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Thus the velocity profile in the set of velocity profiles for the platoon 110 with the smallest weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time may be used by the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, e.g. the velocity profile that gives the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 the lowest possible energy consumption while passing the upcoming road section 220-2 within a veloc- ity interval, such as e.g. between 70-80 km/h in a non-limiting example. Typically the lowest velocity in the velocity interval may be kept while driving uphill or reached at the crest and the highest velocity in the velocity interval may be kept in the downhill.

The velocity profile may thereby be selected so that energy consumption is minimised or reduced, appropriate for the topography of the upcoming road section 220-2. For example, in a downhill, the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may change state, e.g. charge the batteries and/ or the pneumatic compressor tank.

Thus the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may start using the determined set of velocity profiles simultaneously when arriving at the upcoming road section 220-2, e.g. when the first vehicle 100-1 of the platoon 110 arrives at the upcoming road section 220-2 in some embodiments.

Figure 7 illustrates an embodiment of a system 700 in a vehicle platoon 110. The system 700 comprises a computing unit 390 in a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the vehicle platoon 110. The computing unit 390 is configured for assisting a coordinating vehicle 100-1 in de- termining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon 1 10 for use at an upcoming road section 220- 2 situated ahead of the present road section 220-2 in the driving direction 105 of the platoon 110. The platoon 110 thus comprises a grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3.

The computing unit 390 may thus perform at least some of the previously described steps 601-606 according to the method 600 described above and illustrated in Figure 6. 28 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 The vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 may be one of the vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the pla- toon 110.

Thus the computing unit 390 is configured for receiving a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, from the coordinating vehicle 100-1, or any other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, and a request for information related to the upcoming road section 220-2. Further, the computing unit 390 is configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road sec- tion 220-2 from the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 based on topography of the upcoming road section 220-2. The computing unit 390 is in addition configured for computing information related to the received set of candidate velocity profiles, which information is computed in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. Furthermore, the computing unit 390 is in addition configured for iterating reception, extraction, computation and transmission as long as any set of candi- date velocity profiles is received, and furthermore configured for receiving an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcom- ing road section 220-2.

Thereby, the selection of velocity profile in the set of velocity profiles to be used by the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may be based on the topography or road inclination of the upcoming road section 220-2. The road inclination will typically vary with the geograph- ical position when driving through the upcoming road section 220-2, e.g. when driving in a hilly region.

Also, in some embodiments, the computing unit 390 may be further configured for disregard- ing any candidate velocity profiles that result in that minimum distances t1, t2 between any vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 cannot be kept, from the determined set of velocity profiles. Thus any vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may exclude a particular candidate velocity profiles from use by the platoon 1 10 in the set of velocity profiles in some embodiments. ln other embodiments, any vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 in the platoon 110 may exclude a particular candidate velocity profiles from use by that vehicle 100-1, 100- 2, 100-3. 29 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 The computing unit 390 may comprise a receiving circuit 710 configured for receiving wire- less and/ or wired signals from e.g. a distance measuring device 320 and a positioning device 330.

The computing unit 390 may also comprise a processor 720 configured for performing at least some of the calculating or computing of the computing unit 390. Thus the processor 720 may be configured for assisting a coordinating vehicle 100-1 in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon 110, for use in a upcoming road section 220-2 situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105.

The processor 720 may thus be further configured for receiving a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon 110 at the upcoming road section 220-2, from the coordi- nating vehicle 100-1 or any other vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, and a request for information related to the upcoming road section 220-2. Further, the processor 720 may be configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcom- ing road section 220-2 from the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 based on topography of the upcoming road section 220-2. The processor 720 may in addition be configured for compu- ting information related to the received set of candidate velocity profiles, which information is computed in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of the vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 when driving at the upcoming road section 220-2 with regard to topology of the upcoming road section 220-2. The processor 720 may also be configured for iterating reception, extraction, computation and transmission as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received, and furthermore configured for receiving an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section 220-2.

Such processor 720 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Cen- tral Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Applica- tion Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processor” may thus rep- resent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the computing unit 390 may comprise a memory 725 in some embodiments.

The optional memory 725 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some em- 30 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 bodiments, the memory 725 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based tran- sistors. The memory 725 may comprise e.g. a memory card, aflash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROIVI (Erasable PFlOlVl), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments.

Further, the computing unit 390 may comprise a signal transmitter 730. The signal transmitter 730 may be configured for transmitting a control signal over a wired or wireless interface to a wireless transmitter 360 which in turn may signal or broadcast wireless signals to the co- ordinating vehicle 100-1, or any other vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 of the platoon 110 and/ or stationary central node 380.

The previously described steps 601 -607 to be performed in the computing unit 390 may be implemented through the one or more processors 720 within the computing unit 390, to- gether with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 601-607 of the method 600. Thus a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 601-607 in computing unit 390 may perform the method 600 com- prising at least some of the steps 601-607 for determining a set of velocity profiles for a platoon 110, comprising a grouped set of vehicles 100-1, 100-2, 100-3, for use at an upcom- ing road section 220-2, situated ahead of the platoon 110 in the driving direction 105, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processors 720 of the computing unit 390.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step 601-607 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more proces- sors 720 of the computing unit 390. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non- transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the computing unit 390 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 comprising a com- puting unit 390 as described above. 31 10 15 20 538 817 The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa- nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described methods 400, 600; the control unit 310; the computing unit 390; the systems 500, 700; the computer programs; or the ve- hicle 100-1, 100-2, 100-3. Various changes, substitutions or alterations may be made, with- out departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex- pressly stated otherwise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be inter- preted as “at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated othen/vise. lt will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, com- ponents, or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutu- ally different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures can- not be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system. 32

Claims

10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 PATENT CLAIMS

1. A method (400) in a coordinating vehicle (100-1) in a platoon (110), for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon (110), comprising a grouped set of vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), for use at an upcoming road section (220-2) situated ahead of the platoon (110) in the driving direction (105), wherein the method (400) comprises: extracting (402) vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road section (220-2) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); computing (403) a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon (110) at the upcoming road section (220-2), based on the extracted (402) vehicle related infor- mation in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of the coordinating vehicle (100-1) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); transmitting (404) the computed (403) set of candidate velocity profiles to be re- ceived by at least one other vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110); receiving (405) information related to the transmitted (404) set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle (100-1, 100- 2, 100-3), in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) at the upcoming road section (220-2); iterating (406) steps 403-405, wherein the iterated computation (406) is made based also on the received (405) information; determining (407) the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon (1 10) at the upcoming road section (220-2), when an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration (406) is fulfilled; instructing (408) each vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) to start using a velocity profile in the determined (407) set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section (220-2).

2. The method (400) according to claim 1, wherein the received (405) information com- prises either gradient information or a modified set of candidate velocity profiles.

3. The method (400) according to any of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the received (405) information comprises a modified set of candidate velocity profiles, and wherein a plurality of vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) subsequently receives the modified set of candidate velocity profiles, modify it in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy con- sumption and travel time of said vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) when driving at the upcoming road section (220-2) and transmit the modified set of candidate velocity profiles to be re- ceived by yet another vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110). 33 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817

4. The method (400) according to any of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the received (405) information comprises gradient information made based on the set of candidate velocity pro- files, and wherein a plurality of vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) receives the transmitted (404) set of velocity profiles, and computes gradient information there upon, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time for the own vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) when driving on the upcoming road section (220-2), and send the computed gradient information to the coordinating vehicle (100-1).

5. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the set of velocity profiles is determined (407) so that minimum distances (t1, t2) between the vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) are maintained when driving at the upcoming road section (220- 2).

6. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the set of velocity profiles is determined (407) so that all vehicles (1 00-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) are able to follow the set of velocity profiles and maintain maximum distances (t1, t2) to the vehicle (100- 1, 100-2, 100-3) in front when driving at the upcoming road section (220-2).

7. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the information related to the transmitted (404) set of velocity profiles is computed in respective vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in order to minimise the energy consumption and travel time for said vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) when driving on the upcoming road section (220-2) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2), based on modes or states of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), gear ratios in the gearbox of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), minimum and maxi- mum speed of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), speed and load-dependent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic reservoir, exhaust after treatment system tem- perature, emissions and similar information relevant for the vehicle performance on the up- coming road section (220-2).

8. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-7, further comprising distributing (401) geographical information defining the upcoming road section (220-2).

9. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-8, further comprising extending the distances (t1, t2) between the vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110), when an 34 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817 altitude difference between the highest and lowest point of the upcoming road section (220- 2) exceeds a threshold value.

10. for interrupting the iteration (406) comprises: the difference between each iteratively com- The method (400) according to any of claims 1-9, wherein the interruption condition puted (403) set of candidate velocity profiles is smaller than a threshold value; the norm of the gradient information is smaller than a threshold value; a predetermined limit of numbers of iterations is reached; a time limit is reached; or the platoon (110) arrives at the upcoming road section (220-2).

11. files comprises one distinct velocity profile for each vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the pla- toon (110). The method (400) according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the set of velocity pro-

12. for determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon (110), comprising a grouped set of A control unit (310) in a coordinating vehicle (100-1) in a platoon (110) configured vehicles (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), for use at an upcoming road section (220-2) situated ahead of the platoon (110) in the driving direction (105), wherein the control unit (310) is configured for extracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the defined upcoming road section (220-2) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220- 2); and additionally configured for computing a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon (110) at the upcoming road section (220-2), based on the extracted vehicle related information in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); and furthermore configured for transmitting the computed set of candidate velocity profiles to be received by at least one other vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110); and also configured for receiving information related to the transmitted set of candidate velocity profiles, which information has been computed by the at least one other vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time of said vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) when driving at the upcoming road section (220-2); and further configured for iterating the computation of the set of candidate velocity profiles, the transmission of the computed set of candidate velocity profiles, and the reception of information; and also configured for deter- mining the set of velocity profiles to be used by the platoon (110) at the upcoming road section (220-2), when an interruption condition for interrupting the iteration is fulfilled; and also configured for instructing each vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in the platoon (110) to start using a velocity profile in the determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section (220-2). 35 10 15 20 25 30 35 538 817

13. cording to any of claims 1-11 when the computer program is executed in the control unit A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (400) ac- (310), according to claim 12.

14. A vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) comprising a control unit (310) according to claim 12.

15. A method (600) in a vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in a platoon (110), for assisting a coordinating vehicle (100-1) in the platoon (110) in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon (110) to use at an upcoming road section (220-2) situated ahead of the platoon (110) in the driving direction (105), wherein the method (600) comprises: receiving (602) a set of candidate velocity profiles to be used by the platoon (110) at the upcoming road section (220-2), from the coordinating vehicle (100-1), or from another vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), and a request for information related to the upcoming road section (220-2); extracting (603) vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance at the upcoming road section (220-2), based on topography of the upcoming road section (220- 2); computing (604) information related to the received (602) set of candidate velocity profiles, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time when driving at the upcoming road section (220-2) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); transmitting (605) the computed (604) information; iterating (606) steps 602-605 as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received (602); receiving (607) an instruction to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section (220-2).

16. lated information comprises modes or states of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), gear ratios The method (600) according to claims 15, wherein the extracted (603) vehicle re- in the gearbox of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), minimum and maximum speed of the vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), air drag, speed and load-dependent losses, cooling/ heating requirements, maximum torque curve, information concerning the relation between torque, engine speed and energy consumption, gear-shift timing, gear shift time, charging level of batteries, pressure level of pneumatic reservoir, exhaust after treatment system temperature, 36 10 15 20 25 30 538 817 emissions and similar information relevant for vehicle performance on the upcoming road section (220-2).

17. (601) geographical information defining the upcoming road section (220-2). The method (600) according to any of claims 15-16, further comprising receiving

18. A computing unit (390) in a vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) in a platoon (110), config- ured for assisting a coordinating vehicle (100-1) in the platoon (110) in determining a set of velocity profiles for the platoon (110) to use at an upcoming road section (220-2) situated ahead of the present road section (220-2) in the driving direction (105) of the platoon (110), wherein the computing unit (390) is configured for receiving a set of candidate velocity pro- files to be used by the platoon (110) at the upcoming road section (220-2), from the coordi- nating vehicle (100-1), or from another vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), and a request for in- formation related to the upcoming road section (220-2); and furthermore configured for ex- tracting vehicle related information, relevant for the vehicle performance in the upcoming road section (220-2) based on topography of the upcoming road section (220-2); and in ad- dition configured for computing information related to the received set of candidate velocity profiles, in order to reduce a weighted sum of energy consumption and travel time when driving at the upcoming road section (220-2) with regard to topology of the upcoming road section (220-2); and also configured for transmitting the computed information; and also con- figured for iterating reception, extraction, computation and transmission as long as any set of candidate velocity profiles is received, and furthermore configured for receiving an instruc- tion to start using a velocity profile in a determined set of velocity profiles upon arrival at the upcoming road section (220-2).

19. cording to any of claims 15-17 when the computer program is executed in the computing unit A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (600) ac- (390) according to claim 18.

20. claim 18. A vehicle (100-1, 100-2, 100-3) comprising the computing unit (390) according to 37