Cooperative autonomous driving using cooperative perception and mirror neuron inspired intention awareness

In this paper, we present the concept of cooperative autonomous driving using cooperative perception. The cooperative perception can provide upcoming traffic situations ahead, even beyond line-of-sight and field-of-view. From a control perspective, a spatial map for navigation planning is extended up to the boundary of connected vehicles in a see-through manner. By leveraging this augmented perception capability, a better driving decision can be accomplished in terms of traffic flow efficiency and safety improvement. For this purpose, we propose a mirror neuron inspired intention awareness algorithm along with planning and control methods using the algorithm. We demonstrate the feasibility of our proposals through simulations and experiments on the road.