Dynamic risk assessment in autonomous vehicles motion planning

Arguing that an autonomous mobile system is sufficiently safe to operate in presence of other vehicles and objects is an important element in development of such systems. Traditional approach to assure safety is to distinguish between safe and unsafe area and prevent the autonomous vehicle from entering the unsafe area. The paper presents a model of autonomous vehicle control system which uses risk assessment of the current and foreseen situations to plan its movement. The approach is discussed for two examples of simulation scenarios. The problem of risk assessment uncertainty and the need for cooperation between vehicles is addressed.