Decentralized Coordination of Autonomous Vehicles at intersections

Abstract

In this paper, the decentralized coordination of point-mass autonomous vehicles at intersections using navigation functions is considered. As main contribution, the inertia of the vehicles is taken into account to enable on-board energy optimization for crossing. In such a way, heavier vehicles that need more energy and time for acceleration or breaking are given an indirect priority at intersections. The proposed decentralized coordination scheme of autonomous vehicles at intersection is compared with an optimal centralized coordination approach and traditional crossing of manned vehicles at intersection with traffic lights. The proposed decentralized coordination scheme shows a significant improvement in energy consumption and in motion smoothness compared to traditional crossing. It is also easier to deploy and more scalable than centralized approaches, with only a limited performance reduction.

Fluent coordination of autonomous vehicles at intersections

“…The problem of coordinating autonomous vehicles at intersections in a decentralized way was first touched in [5] where a decentralized navigation function is introduced. Navigation functions are practical tools introduced in robotics for solving collision avoidance problems [6] such as formation [7], rendezvous and consensus scenarios.…”

Collision avoidance in next-generation fiber positioner robotic systems for large survey spectrographs

“…In order to solve this problem and present a complete exact solution for the coordination problem, navigation functions have been introduced (Dimarogonas & Kyriakopoulos 2005). Navigation functions have been used in various robotic and control applications (Makarem & Gillet 2011De Gennaro & Jadbabaie 2006). In these applications the actuation torque or other inputs (e.g., the acceleration, the velocity) is derived from some potential function that encode relevant information about the environment and the objective.…”

Information sharing among autonomous vehicles crossing an intersection

“…Avoiding abrupt changes in velocity of heavier vehicles leads in less energy consumption. For this purpose we introduce the matrix of inertias (5).…”

“…Although the navigation functions presented in [9] and [10] provide a stable solution and exhibit strong analytical properties, it has not been studied from scalability and computation point of views. In the navigation problem as formulated in [5], the main purpose is to modify the navigation function to take into account the dynamical characteristics of the vehicles. In our work the main concern is the opportunity to add different type of information about other vehicles to the navigation function.…”

“…The problem of coordinating autonomous vehicles at intersections in a decentralized way was first touched in [5] where a decentralized navigation function is introduced. Navigation functions are practical tools introduced in robotics for solving collision avoidance problems [6] such as formation [7], rendezvous and consensus scenarios.…”