Chang, Pei Yu (The Ohio State University), Bhatti, Sidra Ghayour (OHIO State University), Javed, Nur Uddin (The Ohio State Universty), Ahmed, Qadeer (Ohio State University)

Enhancing Safety at Highway Ramps and Intersections Using Safe Cooperative Controls in Automated Vehicles

Scheduled for presentation during the Invited Session "Traffic Control and Connected Autonomous Vehicles: benefits for efficiency, safety and beyond (2 edition) II" (WeBT4), Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 16:10−16:30, Salon 8

2024 IEEE 27th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), September 24- 27, 2024, Edmonton, Canada

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on October 7, 2024

Abstract

This article focuses on improving the safety of real-world scenarios such as highway merging and intersections by using cooperative control strategies for automated vehicles (AVs). We utilize a cooperative control approach, integrating a safety filter to ensure that all vehicles can avoid conflicts in challenging environments. A leader-follower pattern is adopted in the framework, ensuring all AVs reach a consistent status with the leader reference AV. The safety filter utilizes control barrier functions (CBF) and a proposed safety set function to derive safe control inputs. To demonstrate the practicality of the safe cooperative framework, the simulation is implemented across three carefully chosen traffic scenarios: highway merging, opposite-direction merging, and a complex fourleg intersection, reflecting the diverse challenges encountered in real-world transportation systems. Implementing the safe cooperative controller achieves zero conflict rates in all three scenarios, demonstrating its effectiveness in preventing conflicts.