Traffic Planning and Coordination of Automated Vehicles

Abstract

Systems for autonomous vehicles can increase productivity within the transport industry. Automated driving systems will liberate people from the need to drive, allowing the driver to be engaged with other vocational activities. Moreover, they will allow people and products that cannot drive to travel without the need to hire driver services. In order for such a system to work, a solution that can guarantee efficiency and safety is required. A proposal for a coherent system for planning and coordinating automated vehicles is made. This is accomplished by using multi-agent path finding to plan optimal routes for all vehicles in a closedoff road system, and coordinating their journeys in a safe manner with the help of a collaborative driving management system. The designed system consists of a continuous conflict-based search algorithm that can plan collision-free paths for up to 100 vehicles simultaneously. The virtual traffic light proposed uses an agreement system where it collaborates with agents to determine paths that should be given the green light. By also designing a service allowing vehicles to connect to the virtual traffic light server corresponding to an upcoming intersection, a safe and optimal solution is achieved. The proposed system can act as a holistic pilot system for autonomous vehicles in closed-off environments such as airports, ports, and mines.