Title :
A Vehicle-Intersection Coordination Scheme for Smooth Flows of Traffic Without Using Traffic Lights
Author :
Kamal, Md Abdus Samad ; Imura, Jun-ichi ; Hayakawa, Tomohisa ; Ohata, Akira ; Aihara, Kazuyuki
Author_Institution :
Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc., Nagakute, Japan
Abstract :
This paper presents a coordination scheme of automated vehicles at an intersection without using any traffic lights. Using a two-way communication network, vehicles approaching the intersection from all sections are globally coordinated, by considering their states all together in a model predictive control framework, in order to achieve smooth traffic flows at the intersection. The optimal trajectories of the vehicles are computed based on avoidance of their cross-collision risks around the intersection under relevant constraints and preferences. The scheme efficiently utilizes the intersection area by preventing each pair of conflicting vehicles from approaching their cross-collision point at the same time, instead of reserving the whole intersection area for the conflicting vehicles one after another. The scheme also enables left- or right-turning movements of vehicles under constrained velocity without using any auxiliary lanes. The proposed vehicle-intersection coordination scheme is evaluated through numerical simulation in a typical test intersection consisting of both multilanes and single-lane approaches with turning movements of vehicles. Observations under different traffic flow conditions reveal that the proposed scheme significantly improves intersection performance compared with the traditional signalized intersection scheme.
Keywords :
intelligent transportation systems; predictive control; road vehicles; auxiliary lane; cross-collision risk; intelligent transportation system; model predictive control; numerical simulation; smooth traffic flow; traffic light; two-way communication network; vehicle-intersection coordination scheme; Acceleration; Delays; Roads; Trajectory; Turning; Vehicles; Automated vehicles; connected vehicles; intelligent transportation systems; intersection coordination; model predictive control (MPC);
Journal_Title :
Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TITS.2014.2354380