Sahu, Nishad (Carnegie Mellon University), Bhat, Anand (Carnegie Mellon University), Rajkumar, Ragunathan (Carnegie Mellon University)

SafeRoute: Risk-Minimizing Cooperative Real-Time Route and Behavioral Planning for Autonomous Vehicles

Scheduled for presentation during the Invited Session "Safety for Intelligent and Connected Vehicles" (ThBT3), Thursday, September 26, 2024, 16:10−16:30, Salon 6

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 December 26, 2024

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to mitigate automotive crashes, lower fatalities, and optimize time and energy consumption. Still, the widespread deployment of AVs faces limitations due to practical constraints placed on the Operational Design Domain (ODD) that often excludes challenging scenarios such as work zones and inclement weather conditions. These restrictions pose a considerable obstacle to broader AV deployment. For instance, robotaxis deployed by GM Cruise and Waymo in San Francisco have demonstrated unreliable behavior in work zones. In this paper, we introduce a cooperative route-planning and behavioral framework named SafeRoute, designed to mitigate operational safety risks along the routes taken by AVs. SafeRoute explicitly considers high-risk conditions including work zones, low-visibility environments and adverse weather conditions, to minimize associated risks while avoiding excessively long detours. The weights assigned to various ODD features can be customized as the perception capabilities of AVs improve. Efficient lane-changing mechanisms are designed to handle complex work zones dynamically. SafeRoute has been integrated into CMU’s AV software stack. Extensive testing has been done using an array of work zone scenarios specified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDoT), encompassing simulations, test tracks, and real-world public roads (video demos provided). Operating in real-time, SafeRoute effectively handles a diverse set of challenging work zone scenarios.