An MPC-based cooperative control approach for separated power electric multiple units

The integrated control of separated power electric multiple units (EMUs) and cars is a significant research field, the cars cooperative control problem of the separated power EMUs is investigated in this paper. Firstly, assuming that the separated power EMUs are composed of different numbers of powered cars and trailer cars connected by elastic couplers, and considering the electric traction/braking force, air braking force, and nonlinear basic resistance, a multi-particle model is established. Then a novel cost function is designed considering speed and position tracking errors, in-train force, traction energy consumption, and regenerative energy. Based on the model predictive control (MPC) methodology, a cooperative control approach is proposed to optimize the operation performance of separated power EMUs. The proposed control approach can improve EMUs tracking accuracy, and reduce internal force and net energy consumption during EMUs operation. Finally, the proposed approach is verified by numerical simulations.