A navigation system for unmanned vehicles in automated highway systems

In this paper, a new method for generating a set of collision-free maneuvers for unmanned vehicles in automated highway systems is introduced. The low computational cost of the proposed maneuver planner allows its execution as frequent as the new positions and speeds of vehicles (obstacles) in sight are received. This planner is based on the computation of the minimum translational distance between two mobile objects. This distance is then used for predicting and avoiding a collision, generating (if it is possible and safe), overtaking (changing to the left and right lane), braking and keeping-the-lane maneuvers. These maneuvers can be provided to a decision-making process for selecting the most suitable one.