Autonomous vehicle control systems for safe crossroads (original) (raw)
Related papers
Priority-based coordination of autonomous and legacy vehicles at intersection
17th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 2014
Recently, researchers have proposed various autonomous intersection management techniques that enable autonomous vehicles to cross the intersection without traffic lights or stop signs. In particular, a priority-based coordination system with provable collision-free and deadlock-free features has been presented. In this paper, we extend the priority-based approach to support legacy vehicles without compromising above-mentioned features. We make the hypothesis that legacy vehicles are able to keep a safe distance from their leading vehicles. Then we explore some special configurations of system that ensures the safe crossing of legacy vehicles. We implement the extended system in a realistic traffic simulator SUMO. Simulations are performed to demonstrate the safety and efficiency of the system.
A multiagent approach to autonomous intersection management
2008
Abstract Artificial intelligence research is ushering in a new era of sophisticated, mass-market transportation technology. While computers can already fly a passenger jet better than a trained human pilot, people are still faced with the dangerous yet tedious task of driving automobiles. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is the field that focuses on integrating information technology with vehicles and transportation infrastructure to make transportation safer, cheaper, and more efficient.
Autonomous cooperative driving: A velocity-based negotiation approach for intersection crossing
16th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2013), 2013
In this article, a scenario where several vehicles have to coordinate among them in order to cross a traffic intersection is considered. In this case, the control problem relies on the optimization of a cost function while guaranteeing collision avoidance and the satisfaction of local constraints.
Development of in-vehicle computer and sensing technology, along with short-range vehicle-to-vehicle communication has provided technological potential for large scale deployment of self-driving vehicles. The issue of intersection control for these future self-driving vehicles is one of the emerging research issues. Contrary to some of the previous research approaches, this paper is proposing a paradigm shift based upon cooperative self-organizing control framework with end-user responsibility. Distributed vehicle intelligence has been used to calculate each vehicle’s approaching velocity. The control mechanism has been developed in an agent-based environment. Self-organizing agent’s trajectory adjustment bases upon a proposed priority principle. Testing of the system has proved its safety, user comfort, and efficiency functional requirements. Several recommendations for further research are presented.
Optimal Coordination of Automated Vehicles at Intersections: Theory and Experiments
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology
With the introduction of Cooperative Automated Vehicles, traffic lights can be replaced by coordination algorithms. In this paper, we present a bi-level, model predictive controller for coordination of automated vehicles at intersection. The bilevel controller consists of a coordination level, where intersection occupancy timeslots are allocated, and vehicle-level controllers, where the control commands for the vehicles are computed. We establish persistent feasibility and stability of the bi-level controller under some mild assumptions, and derive conditions under which closed-loop collision avoidance can be ensured with bounded position uncertainty. We thereafter detail an implementation of the coordination controller on a three-vehicle test bed, where the intersection-level optimization problem is solved using a distributed Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method. We present and discuss results from an extensive experimental campaign where the proposed controller was validated. The experimental results indicate the practical applicability of the proposed controller, and validates that safety can be ensured for large positioning uncertainties.
Cybercar Cooperation for Safe Intersections
2006 IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference, 2006
The paper addresses the problem of motion autonomy of Cybercars across a urban intersection. Cybercars are small electric city vehicles aimed at navigating autonomously. In the context of a crossing, the motion generation together with its safety are critical issues. The proposed approach to the problem lies in the coupling of perception and planning capabilities. A new car to car communication algorithm provides necessary information to a trajectory planner capable of iteratively generate safe trajectories within a dynamic environment in order to drive Cybercars safely through the intersection. The main contributions of this work are the development and integration of these modules into one single application, considering explicitly the constraints related to the environment and the system and to provide an original answer to the problem of intelligent crossing.
Multiagent Traffic Management: An Improved Intersection Control Mechanism
Traffic congestion is one of the leading causes of lost productivity and decreased standard of living in urban settings. Recent advances in artificial intelligence suggest vehicle navigation by autonomous agents will be possible in the near future. In a previous paper, we proposed a reservation-based system for alleviating traffic congestion, specifically at intersections. This paper extends our prototype implementation in several ways with the aim of making it more implementable in the real world. In particular, we 1) add the ability of vehicles to turn, 2) enable them to accelerate while in the intersection, and 3) augment their interaction capabilities with a detailed protocol such that the vehicles do not need to know anything about the intersection control policy. The use of this protocol limits the interaction of the driver agent and the intersection manager to the extent that it is a reasonable approximation of reliable wireless communication. Finally, we describe how different intersection control policies can be expressed with this protocol and limited exchange of information. All three improvements are fully implemented and tested, and we present detailed empirical results validating their effectiveness.
Fluent coordination of autonomous vehicles at intersections
2012 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), 2012
In this paper we introduce a new decentralized navigation function for coordination of autonomous vehicles at intersections. The main contribution is a navigation function designed for vehicles with predefined paths that uses expected time to intersection for collision avoidance. In such way, deadlock situations are avoided. Different inertias of the vehicles are taken into account to enable on-board energy optimization for crossing. Heavier vehicles that need more energy and time for acceleration or braking are given an indirect priority at intersections. The proposed decentralized coordination scheme shows a significant improvement in energy consumption and in motion smoothness compared to traditional crossing with human drivers.
Toward Autonomous and Distributed Intersection Management with Emergency Vehicles
Electronics, 2022
Numerous approaches have attempted to develop systems that more appropriately manage street crossings in cities in recent years. Solutions range from intelligent traffic lights to complex, centralized protocols that evaluate the policies that vehicles must comply with at intersections. Such works attempt to provide traffic-control strategies at intersections where the complexity of a dynamic environment, with vehicles crossing in different directions and multiple conflict points, pose a significant challenge for city traffic optimization. Traditionally, a traffic-control system at an intersection gives the green light to one lane while keeping the other lanes on red. But there may be situations in which there are different levels of vehicle priority; for example, emergency vehicles may have priority at intersections. Thus, this work proposes a distributed junction-management protocol that pays special attention to emergency vehicles. The proposed algorithm implements rules based on ...