To achieve complete autonomous vehicles, it is crucial for autonomous vehicles to communicate and interact with their surrounding vehicles. Especially, since the lane change scenarios do not have traffic signals and traffic rules, the interactions between vehicles need to be considered for the autonomous vehicles. To address this issue, we propose a cooperative and interaction-aware decision-making algorithm for autonomous vehicles that stochastically considers the future behavior of surrounding vehicles based on actual driving data. The algorithm is designed for both lane changing and lane keeping vehicles, and effectively considers interaction by using an interaction model based on relative information between vehicles with fewer states. To design the decision-making, the interaction model is defined as Markov decision process, and stochastic dynamic programming is used to solve the Markov decision process. We validate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm in lane change scenarios that require interaction. Our results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm enables cooperative and interaction-aware decision-making while accommodating various driving styles. Additionally, by comparing it with other methods, such as the intelligent driver model and game theory-based decision-making, we validate the safety and comfortable decision-making of our proposed algorithm. Furthermore, through driving with a human-driven vehicle, it is confirmed that the proposed decision-making enables to cooperatively and effectively drive with humans.
Lane-change maneuver has always been a challenging task for both manual and autonomous driving, especially in an urban setting. In particular, the uncertainty in predicting the behavior of other vehicles on the road leads to indecisive actions while changing lanes, which, might result in traffic congestion and cause safety concerns. This paper analyzes the factors related to uncertainty such as speed range change and lane change so as to design a predictive Markov decision process for lane-change maneuver in the urban setting. A hidden Markov model is developed for modeling uncertainties of su…
Boston University（波士顿大学）；Honda Research Institute-US (HRI-US)（美国本田研究院（HRI-US））
We derive optimal control policies for a Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) and cooperating neighboring CAVs to carry out a lane change maneuver consisting of a longitudinal phase where the CAV properly positions itself relative to the cooperating neighbors and a lateral phase where it safely changes lanes. In contrast to prior work on this problem, where the CAV "selfishly" only seeks to minimize its maneuver time, we seek to ensure that the fast-lane traffic flow is minimally disrupted (through a properly defined metric). Additionally, when performing lane-changing maneuvers, we optimally sel…
We derive optimal control policies for a Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) and cooperating neighboring CAVs to carry out a lane change maneuver consisting of a longitudinal phase where the CAV properly positions itself relative to the cooperating neighbors and a lateral phase where it safely changes lanes. In contrast to prior work on this problem, where the CAV "selfishly" seeks to minimize its maneuver time, we seek to ensure that the fast-lane traffic flow is minimally disrupted (through a properly defined metric) and that highway throughput is improved by optimally selecting the cooperatin…
Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) offer huge potential to improve the performance of automated vehicles (AVs) without communication capabilities, especially in situations when the vehicles (or agents) need to be cooperative to accomplish their maneuver. Lane change maneuvers in dense traffic, e.g., are very challenging for non-connected AVs. To alleviate this problem, we propose a holistic distributed lane change control scheme for CAVs which relies on vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The originally centralized optimal control problem is embedded into a consensus-based Alternating Direc…
Evaluation of Lane Departure Correction Systems Using a Stochastic Driver Model
Beijing Institute of Technology（北京理工大学）；University of California at Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute（密歇根大学交通研究所）
This paper proposes an onboard advance warning system based on a probabilistic prediction model that advises vehicles on when to change lanes for an upcoming lane drop. Using several traffic- and driver-related parameters such as the distribution of inter-vehicle headway distances, the prediction model calculates the likelihood of utilizing one or multiple lane changes to successfully reach a target position on the road. When approaching a lane drop, the onboard system projects current vehicle conditions into the future and uses the model to continuously estimate the success probability of cha…
This paper develops a new control design for guaranteeing a vehicle's safety during lane change maneuvers in a complex traffic environment. The proposed method uses a finite state machine (FSM), where a quadratic program based optimization problem using control Lyapunov functions and control barrier functions (CLF-CBF-QP) is used to calculate the system's optimal inputs via rule-based control strategies. The FSM can make switches between different states automatically according to the command of driver and traffic environment, which makes the ego vehicle find a safe opportunity to do a collisi…
Decision making for self-driving cars is usually tackled by manually encoding rules from drivers' behaviors or imitating drivers' manipulation using supervised learning techniques. Both of them rely on mass driving data to cover all possible driving scenarios. This paper presents a hierarchical reinforcement learning method for decision making of self-driving cars, which does not depend on a large amount of labeled driving data. This method comprehensively considers both high-level maneuver selection and low-level motion control in both lateral and longitudinal directions. We firstly decompose…
We derive time and energy-optimal control policies for a Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) to complete lane change maneuvers in mixed traffic. The interaction between CAVs and Human-Driven Vehicles (HDVs) requires designing the best possible response of a CAV to actions by its neighboring HDVs. This interaction is formulated using a bilevel optimization setting with an appropriate behavioral model for an HDV's. Then, an iterated best response (IBR) method is used to determine a Nash equilibrium. However, we also show that when a common and simple-to-detect condition applies, the optimal lane-…
To develop driving automation technologies for human, a human-centered methodology should be adopted for ensured safety and satisfactory user experience. Automated lane change decision in dense highway traffic is challenging, especially when considering the personalized preferences of different drivers. To fulfill human driver centered decision algorithm development, we carry out driver-in-the-loop experiments on a 6-Degree-of-Freedom driving simulator. Based on the analysis of the lane change data by drivers of three specific styles,personalization indicators are selected to describe the driv…
Originally, the decision and control of the lane change of the vehicle were on the human driver. In previous studies, the decision-making of lane-changing of the human drivers was mainly used to increase the individual's benefit. However, the lane-changing behavior of these human drivers can sometimes have a bad influence on the overall traffic flow. As technology for autonomous vehicles develop, lane changing action as well as lane changing decision making fall within the control category of autonomous vehicles. However, since many of the current lane-changing decision algorithms of autonomou…
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo（东京大学工业科学研究所）；Hino Motors, Ltd.（日野汽车公司）
Lane change is a very demanding driving task and number of traffic accidents are induced by mistaken maneuvers. An automated lane change system has the potential to reduce driver workload and to improve driving safety. One challenge is how to improve driver acceptance on the automated system. From the viewpoint of human factors, an automated system with different styles would improve user acceptance as the drivers can adapt the style to different driving situations. This paper proposes a method to design different lane change styles in automated driving by analysis and modeling of truck driver…
Analysis of mandatory and discretionary lane change behaviors for heavy trucks
University of Michigan（密歇根大学）；University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute（密歇根大学交通研究所）；Division of Safety Research, NIOSH, CDC（美国疾病控制与预防中心国家职业安全与健康研究所安全研究部）
Evaluation of A Semi-Autonomous Lane Departure Correction System Using Naturalistic Driving Data
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute（密歇根大学交通研究所）；Beijing Institute of Technology（北京理工大学）；University of California at Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）
Variability in human response creates non-trivial challenges for modeling and control of human-automation systems. As autonomy becomes pervasive, methods that can accommodate human variability will become paramount, to ensure efficiency, safety, and high levels of performance. We propose an easily computable modeling framework which takes advantage of a metric to assess variability in individual human response in a dynamic task that subjects repeat over several trials. Our approach is based in a transformation of observed trajectories to a reproducing kernel Hilbert space, which captures varia…
Biasing the Driving Style of an Artificial Race Driver for Online Time-Optimal Maneuver Planning
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento（工业工程系，特伦托大学）；Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari（电气与信息工程系，巴里理工学院）；Professorship of Autonomous Vehicle Systems, Technical University of Munich（自主车辆系统教授职位，慕尼黑技术大学）
Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo（东京大学工业科学研究所）
Haptic guidance in a shared steering assistance system has drawn significant attention in intelligent vehicle fields, owing to its mutual communication ability for vehicle control. By exerting continuous torque on the steering wheel, both the driver and support system can share lateral control of the vehicle. However, current haptic guidance steering systems demonstrate some deficiencies in assisting lane changing. This study explored a new steering interaction method, including the design and evaluation of an intention-based haptic shared steering system. Such an intention-based method can su…
This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of durations of discretionary lane changes (LCs) on freeways based on an enriched dataset. A comprehensive analysis of LC durations was conducted based on vehicle types, LC directions and navigation speeds. It was found that the heavy vehicle takes longer time to complete LC maneuver. The LC direction significantly influences the durations of passenger cars but has no significant influence on heavy vehicles. The navigation speed was found to have important influence on LC durations. However, it has different impacts according to vehicle types …
Tongji University（同济大学）；Central South University（中南大学）
Lane-changing is an important driving behavior and unreasonable lane changes can result in potentially dangerous traffic collisions. Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) can assist drivers to change lanes safely and efficiently. To capture the stochastic time series of lane-changing behavior, this study proposes a temporal convolutional network (TCN) to predict the long-term lane-changing trajectory and behavior. In addition, the convolutional neural network (CNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) methods are considered as the benchmark models to demonstrate the learning ability of the TC…
Corpy & Co., Inc.（Corpy公司）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）
Driver distraction is a well-known cause for traffic collisions worldwide. Studies have indicated that shared steering control, which actively provides haptic guidance torque on the steering wheel, effectively improves the performance of distracted drivers. Recently, adaptive shared steering control based on the physiological status of the driver has been developed, although its effect on distracted driver behavior remains unclear. To this end, a high-fidelity driving simulator experiment was conducted involving 18 participants performing double lane changes. The experimental conditions compri…
This paper presents an on-board advance warning system for vehicles based on a probabilistic prediction model that advises them on when to change lanes to reach a highway diverge on time. The system is based on a model that estimates the probability of reaching a goal state on the road using one or multiple lane changes. This estimate is based on several traffic-related parameters such as the distribution of inter-vehicle headway distances as well as driver-related parameters like lane change duration. For an upcoming diverge, the advance warning system uses the model to continuously calculate…
Modeling the Lane-Change Reactions to Merging Vehicles for Highway On-Ramp Simulations
Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation（全球汽车性能模拟中心）；Honda Research Institute, USA Inc.（美国本田研究所）；Virginia Tech Transportation Institute（弗吉尼亚理工大学交通研究所）
Jaguar Land Rover Limited（捷豹路虎有限公司）；University of Surrey（萨里大学）
Quantifying and encoding occupants' preferences as an objective function for the tactical decision making of autonomous vehicles is a challenging task. This paper presents a low-complexity approach for lane-change initiation and planning to facilitate highly automated driving on freeways. Conditions under which human drivers find different manoeuvres desirable are learned from naturalistic driving data, eliminating the need for an engineered objective function and incorporation of expert knowledge in form of rules. Motion planning is formulated as a finite-horizon optimisation problem with saf…
Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University（同济大学道路与交通工程教育部重点实验室）；China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.（中铁第四勘察设计院集团有限公司）；Institute of Logistics Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University（上海海事大学物流科学与工程研究院）
The freeway on-ramp merging section is often identified as a crash-prone spot due to the high frequency of traffic conflicts. Very few traffic conflict analysis studies comprehensively consider different vehicle types at freeway merging section. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyse conflicts between different vehicle types at freeway merging section. Field data are collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) at merging areas in Shanghai, China. Vehicle extraction method is utilized to obtain vehicle trajectories. Time-to-collision (TTC) is utilized as the surrogate safety measur…
This paper issues an integrated control system of self-driving autonomous vehicles based on the personal driving preference to provide personalized comfortable driving experience to autonomous vehicle users. We propose an Occupant's Preference Metric (OPM) which is defining a preferred lateral and longitudinal acceleration region with maximum allowable jerk for users. Moreover, we propose a vehicle controller based on control parameters enabling integrated lateral and longitudinal control via preference-aware maneuvering of autonomous vehicles. The proposed system not only provides the criteri…
Swift Navigation（Swift Navigation公司）；Xona Space Systems（Xona空间系统公司）
This paper surveys a number of recent developments in modern Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and investigates the possible impact on autonomous driving architectures. Modern GNSS now consist of four independent global satellite constellations delivering modernized signals at multiple civil frequencies. New ground monitoring infrastructure, mathematical models, and internet services correct for errors in the GNSS signals at continent scale. Mass-market automotive-grade receiver chipsets are available at low Cost, Size, Weight, and Power (CSWaP). The result is that GNSS in 2020 delive…
A Survey on Data-Driven Modeling of Human Drivers' Lane-Changing Decisions
School of Systems Science, Beijing Jiaotong University（北京交通大学系统科学学院）；Department of Automation, BNRist, Tsinghua University（清华大学自动化系）；Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院信息与决策系统实验室）
Merging in the form of a mandatory lane-change is an important issue in transportation research. Even when safely completed, merging may disturb the mainline traffic and reduce the efficiency or capacity of the roadway. In this paper, we consider a Stackelberg game-theoretic driver behavior model where the so-called utilities or payoffs reflect the merging vehicle's aggressiveness as it pertains the decision to merge as the situation stands or to accelerate, decelerate prior to the actual lane-change maneuver. The interaction of the merging vehicle with the mainline traffic is also considered …
Institute of Power Machinery and Vehicular Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Zhejiang University（浙江大学工学部动力机械及车辆工程研究所）
Highway pilot assist has become the front line of competition in advanced driver assistance systems. The increasing requirements on safety and user acceptance are calling for personalization in the development process of such systems. Inspired by a finding on drivers' car-following preferences on lateral direction, a personalized highway pilot assist algorithm is proposed, which consists of an Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) based speed control model and a novel lane-keeping model considering the leading vehicle's lateral movement. A simulated driving experiment is conducted to analyse driver g…
Reinforcement learning techniques can provide substantial insights into the desired behaviors of future autonomous driving systems. By optimizing for societal metrics of traffic such as increased throughput and reduced energy consumption, such methods can derive maneuvers that, if adopted by even a small portion of vehicles, may significantly improve the state of traffic for all vehicles involved. These methods, however, are hindered in practice by the difficulty of designing efficient and accurate models of traffic, as well as the challenges associated with optimizing for the behaviors of doz…
