PL-TOON Platform | Andrés Peters

PL-TOON (Programmable Low-cost Train platOON) is an innovative experimental platform designed for research and education in vehicle formation control and platooning.

Left: The complete PL-TOON experimental setup. Middle: Individual autonomous vehicles in formation. Right: Real-time control and monitoring interface.

Key Features

The platform provides a cost-effective solution for validating theoretical results in formation control, string stability, and multi-agent systems. It combines hardware and software components to create a flexible research environment.

Left: Platform demonstration during an experiment. Right: System architecture diagram showing the communication and control structure.

Hardware Components

Custom-designed chassis and track system
ESP32-based control units
Infrared sensors for position detection
Wireless communication modules
DC motors with encoders

Software Architecture

Arduino-compatible firmware
Python-based control interface
Real-time data visualization
Open-source codebase

Sample experimental results showing vehicle formation performance and string stability analysis.

Research Applications

The platform has been successfully used in various research projects:

String Stability Analysis
- Validation of theoretical stability conditions
- Testing of different communication protocols
- Performance evaluation under delays
Formation Control
- Implementation of various control strategies
- Testing of adaptive algorithms
- Validation of theoretical results

Different research applications of the PL-TOON platform, from basic formation control to complex multi-vehicle coordination.

Resources and Documentation

All platform resources are open-source and available through our GitHub repository. This includes:

Technical documentation
Setup guides
Example code
Research data
Educational materials

For more information about getting involved with the project, contact andres.peters@uai.cl.