Game Theoretic Modeling of Vehicle Interactions at Unsignalized Intersections and Application to Autonomous Vehicle Control

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss a game theoretic approach to model the time-extended, multi-step, and interactive decision making of vehicles at unsignalized intersections. The vehicle interaction model is then used to define an autonomous vehicle controller. Simulation results for a common intersection scenario are reported.

Decision making in dynamic and interactive environments based on cognitive hierarchy theory, Bayesian inference, and predictive control

“…The level-k framework has been exploited for modeling human-human, human-machine, and machine-machine 1 interactions in automotive systems [3], [16], [19], aerospace systems [13], [14], as well as in cyber-physical security [15]. It has been revealed in [16] that an ego agent using a decision strategy corresponding to a level-k model with some fixed k may behave poorly when interacting with another agent using a decision strategy of level-σ with σ = k − 1.…”

“…On the basis of this observation, algorithms that estimate the other agents' cognitive levels according to their historical behavior have been proposed in [15], [16], [19] so that the ego agent can adapt its decision strategy to the level estimates.…”

“…On the basis of Propositions 1 and 2, a standard nonlinear programming solver exploiting gradient and Hessian information of the cost and constraint functions of (16), which can be numerically estimated based on function evaluations for any Γ 1 t of interest, can be used to solve for (Γ 1 t ) * .…”

Adaptive Game-Theoretic Decision Making for Autonomous Vehicle Control at Roundabouts

“…Game-theoretic modelings of driver and vehicle interactions in highway traffic scenarios for use in autonomous vehicle control development are discussed in [3], [4], [5]. Game-theoretic autonomous vehicle control algorithms for intersection traffic scenarios are proposed in [6], [7]. In [6], vehicle-to-vehicle interactions at an unsignalized four-way intersection are modeled using a game-theoretic framework, and then an autonomous vehicle controller for such an intersection is developed based on the vehicle interaction model.…”

“…The contributions of this paper are: 1) We develop a gametheoretic model representing the interactions between two vehicles at a roundabout intersection. Such a model can have multiple uses, such as for developing autonomous vehicle control systems [6] or for the verification, validation, and calibration of such systems [3], [4]. We focus on the former in this paper.…”