Collaborative Overtaking of Multi-Vehicle Systems in Dynamic Environments: A Distributed Artificial Potential Field Approach

Abstract

Multi-vehicle autonomous driving has attracted significant attention from academia and industries due to its ability to improve traffic efficiency and enhance the safety of drivers and passengers. In this paper, a distributed motion planning strategy based on the artificial potential field method is proposed to achieve overtaking of the autonomous vehicle fleet in dynamic environments. Firstly, a dynamic target tracking control protocol is constructed for an autonomous vehicle fleet using a modified artificial potential field. The target tracking control protocol overcomes the disadvantage of the traditional artificial potential field method (i.e., the dynamic target cannot be reached). Besides, a distributed obstacle avoidance control protocol is also designed to avoid potential collisions during the overtaking process. Finally, simulation experiments are performed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Practical path planning techniques in overtaking for autonomous shuttles

“…A wide range of algorithms have been used in related research including artificial potential fields method (APF) (Feng et al, 2021;Y. Huang, Ding, et al, 2019;Shufeng & Junxin, 2018;Wahid et al, 2020;Xie et al, 2021).…”

“…Path planning algorithms generate safe paths for obstacle avoidance based on vehicle dynamic (Wang et al, 2019), which represents an interesting topic for research in the field of self‐driving vehicles. A wide range of algorithms have been used in related research including artificial potential fields method (APF) (Feng et al, 2021; Y. Huang, Ding, et al, 2019; Shufeng & Junxin, 2018; Wahid et al, 2020; Xie et al, 2021).…”

Distributed Motion Planning for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Overtaking via Artificial Potential Field

“…It enables information exchange and coordinated operation among vehicle agents, which significantly reduces traffic congestion in complex roads [7]. A multi-vehicle system can also achieve a specific formation, i.e., maintain the desired distance between neighboring vehicles, increasing road capacity, reducing congestion, and improving traffic efficiency [16], [17]. Moreover, a multi-vehicle system may bring more positive possibilities for road rescue, traffic command and other fields [18].…”