Development of a path planning system using mean shift algorithm for driver assistance

The longitudinal and lateral vehicle control techniques have been widely used in several active driver assistance systems. The adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistant control, vehicle platooning and stop-and-go control are typical examples of the most important applications. In this study, a novel path planning method is proposed considering the driving environment such as road shape, ego vehicle and surrounding vehicles’ movement. The relative distance and velocity between the ego vehicle and surrounding vehicles are identified with respect to the predicted lane shape in front of the ego vehicle. Based on the identified information, the road shape and surrounding vehicles are mapped into the intensity image and the desired vector for the ego vehicle’s movement is determined by the maximum intensity density tracing method. The desired vehicle path is followed by the acceleration/deceleration control and the steering assist control, respectively. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed system, simulations are conducted and compared with ACC systems.     

Development of the Lane Keeping Control System Using State-Varying Surface for Vulnerable Road Users

This paper proposes a new Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) system based on the integrated control strategy with AFS and BTV. To be specific, the steering controller calculates the gear ratio of AFS to align with the target lane whereas the braking controller determines differential brake pressure using Sliding Mode Control (SMC) theory according to the state-varying sliding surface with Fuzzy model. In recent years, auto industries have produced the lane keeping applications to prevent lane departure caused by drivers’ distractions or drowsiness. To also prevent wrist injury in drivers while steering, current LKA systems limit the output values of steering-wheel assist torque. This limiting mechanism, however, can cause a problem that cannot follow a road curvature when an older driver overexerts an inappropriate control effort. A new LKA system of the AFS and BTV integrated controller has since been drafted to solve this problem, and validated its performance in regards to the test conditions given with various driver models.     

Application of slim A-pillar to improve driver’s field of vision

The importance of vehicle safety cannot be exaggerated in today’s mobile societies. Many manufacturers, associates related to vehicles and universities make an effort to improve vehicle safety by developing new technologies, applying high strength steel to the body structure etc. However, the majority of these efforts are focused on decreasing injury. It is absolutely important to minimize injury, but a more important aspect is coping with vehicle accidents. That is, As undeniably important as it is to minimize potential injuries, it is critical that experts focus on developing ways to keep drivers out of situations likely to lead to crashes in the first place. The purpose of this paper is to determine what the most critical factor is when coping with an unfamiliar driving situation. The answer is to provide a wide-open field of vision, especially for the driver. The driver’s field of vision is obstructed by the vehicle’s A-pillar. To solve this, the A-pillar obstruction angle, which is the angle between the driver’s eyes and the A-pillar should be decreased. This paper purposes three-methods for decreasing this angle structurally and applying a slim A-pillar which is as the best solution to decrease the A-pillar obstruction angle and ensure the drivers field of vision at the same time     

Road curvature estimation for vehicle lane departure detection using a robust Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy observer

In this paper, a lane departure detection method is studied and evaluated via a professional vehicle dynamics software. Based on a robust fuzzy observer designed with unmeasurable premise variables with unknown inputs, the road curvature is estimated and compared with the vehicle trajectory curvature. The difference between the two curvatures is used by the proposed algorithm as the first driving risk indicator. To reduce false alarms and take into account the driver corrections, a second driving risk indicator is considered, which is based on the steering dynamics, and it gives the time to the lane keeping. The used nonlinear model deduced from the vehicle lateral dynamics and a vision system is represented by an uncertain Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy model. Taking into account the unmeasured variables, an unknown input fuzzy observer is then proposed. Synthesis conditions of the proposed fuzzy observer are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities using Lyapunov method. The proposed approach is evaluated under different driving scenarios using a software simulator. Simulation results show good efficiency of the proposed method.     

Formulation and interpretation of optimal braking and steering patterns towards autonomous safety-critical manoeuvres

ABSTRACT

Stability control of a vehicle in autonomous safety-critical at-the-limit manoeuvres is analysed from the perspective of lane keeping or lane changing, rather than that of yaw control as in traditional ESC systems. An optimal control formulation is developed, where the optimisation criterion is a linear combination of the initial and final velocity of the manoeuvre. Varying the interpolation parameter in this formulation turns out to result in an interesting family of optimal braking and steering patterns in stabilising manoeuvres. The two different strategies of optimal lane-keeping control and optimal yaw control are shown to be embedded in the formulation and result from the boundary values of the parameter. The results provide new insights and have the potential to be used for future safety systems that adapt the level of braking to the situation at hand, which is demonstrated through examples of how to exploit theresults.     

Proper PD steering assistance constant based on the driving situation

Proportional derivative (PD) steering assistance can greatly improve the control stability of a vehicle. However, for all PD steering methods, the discomfort associated with the need to continuously turn the steering wheel during cornering is significant. Because the steering return phenomenon of the steering wheel stop like this is not preferable, PD steering assistance should be extremely weak (almost 0) during normal cornering. Alternatively, during drift cornering, during which the grip area of the tires is exceeded, PD steering assistance is helpful because the driver has good control over counter-steering. Moreover, the use of PD steering assistance is preferable during lane changes because the response and settling of a vehicle is greatly improved when PD steering assistance is used. Based on these considerations, a previous report examined steering method controls in which the PD steering assistance constant was incorporated along with the drivers’ perception changes in certain driving situations. This study aimed to determine a suitable PD steering assistance constant in relation to the driving situation. A proper PD steering assistance constant was found to exist for specific driving situations. Based on the results of gaze detection using an eye mark recorder, the study was able to reduce the right and left difference of the gaze at the driver by controlling PD steering assistance using a proper PD steering assistance constant for various driving situations.     

车道线保持自校正滑模控制

为实现复杂工况下的车道线保持控制,建立了包含转向机构动态的车辆横向动力学模型,在此基础上研究了车辆在直道与弯道工况下的车道保持控制问题并提出一种自校正滑模控制方法.该方法引入sigmoid函数代替滑模控制中的符号函数并根据Lyapunov稳定性理论设计了自校正律,在自校正律的作用下sigmoid函数的边界层厚度以及切换...     

Role of steering wheel feedback on driver performance: driving simulator and modeling analysis

When driving in curves, how do drivers use the force appearing on the steering wheel? As it carries information related to lateral acceleration, this force could be necessary for drivers to tune their internal model of vehicle dynamics; alternatively, being opposed to the drivers' efforts, it could just help them stabilize the steering wheel position. To assess these two hypotheses, we designed an experiment on a motion-based driving simulator. The steering characteristics of the vehicle were modified in the course of driving, unknown to drivers. Results obtained with standard drivers showed a surprisingly wide range of adaptation, except for exaggerated modifications of the steering force feedback. A two-level driver model, combining a preview of vehicle dynamics and a neuromuscular steering control, reproduces these experimental results qualitatively and indicates that adaptation occurs at the haptic level rather than in the internal model of vehicle dynamics. This effect is related to other theories on the manual control of dynamics systems, wherein force feedback characteristics are abstracted at the position control level. This research also illustrates the use of driving simulation for the study of driver behavior and future intelligent steering assistance systems.     

Role of steering wheel feedback on driver performance: driving simulator and modeling analysis

When driving in curves, how do drivers use the force appearing on the steering wheel? As it carries information related to lateral acceleration, this force could be necessary for drivers to tune their internal model of vehicle dynamics; alternatively, being opposed to the drivers' efforts, it could just help them stabilize the steering wheel position. To assess these two hypotheses, we designed an experiment on a motion-based driving simulator. The steering characteristics of the vehicle were modified in the course of driving, unknown to drivers. Results obtained with standard drivers showed a surprisingly wide range of adaptation, except for exaggerated modifications of the steering force feedback. A two-level driver model, combining a preview of vehicle dynamics and a neuromuscular steering control, reproduces these experimental results qualitatively and indicates that adaptation occurs at the haptic level rather than in the internal model of vehicle dynamics. This effect is related to other theories on the manual control of dynamics systems, wherein force feedback characteristics are abstracted at the position control level. This research also illustrates the use of driving simulation for the study of driver behavior and future intelligent steering assistance systems.     

无人驾驶汽车路径跟踪控制方法拟人程度研究

无人驾驶汽车路径跟踪控制是无人驾驶汽车运动控制的核心所在,目前常用的路径跟踪模型主要以路径跟踪精度为主要控制目标,在很大程度上忽略了无人驾驶汽车的乘坐舒适性和控制的拟人程度。为了研究无人驾驶汽车路径跟踪控制算法的拟人程度并提高乘坐舒适性,基于转向几何学、汽车运动学和汽车动力学理论建立实车中常用的4种路径跟踪模型,提出以路径跟踪过程中的最大横向加速度a_ymax和方向盘转角平方和δ_w²共同表征路径跟踪模型的拟人程度和横向乘坐舒适性。基于驾驶人实车换道试验数据,建立多项式拟人换道参考路径,搭建CarSim/Simulink联合仿真模型,并对其进行不同车速下的车辆换道试验。研究结果表明：路径跟踪模型的横向循迹偏差均会随着车速的提高而增加,但都能较好实现路径跟踪;带预瞄路径跟踪模型和动力学前馈最优LQR路径跟踪模型拟人程度较好;汽车运动学路径跟踪模型的乘坐舒适性最差,方向盘修正激烈;在100 km·h^-1,a_ymax>0.7 m·s^-2,δ_w²>2.7×10³时,拟人程度最差;不带预瞄路径跟踪模型循迹精度最高,且拟人程度最高,乘坐舒适性最好,120 km·h^-1时,a_ymax ≤ 0.5 m·s^-2。     

Driving environment assessment using fusion of in- and out-of-vehicle vision systems

Because the overall driving environment consists of a complex combination of the traffic Environment, Vehicle, and Driver (EVD), Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) must consider not only events from each component of the EVD but also the interactions between them. Although previous researchers focused on the fusion of the states from the EVD (EVD states), they estimated and fused the simple EVD states for a single function system such as the lane change intent analysis. To overcome the current limitations, first, this paper defines the EVD states as driver’s gazing region, time to lane crossing, and time to collision. These states are estimated by enhanced detection and tracking methods from in- and out-of-vehicle vision systems. Second, it proposes a long-term prediction method of the EVD states using a time delayed neural network to fuse these states and a fuzzy inference system to assess the driving situation. When tested with real driving data, our system reduced false environment assessments and provided accurate lane departure, vehicle collision, and visual inattention warning signals.     

An analysis of driver’s steering behaviour during auditory or haptic warnings for the designing of lane departure warning system

We found that the steering vibration was effective for warning of lane-departure situations, especially when drivers did not know the meaning of warnings. It seems that many drivers have their own Mental Model for response to a haptic stimulus transmitted through the steering wheel. This mental model causes drivers to think that the vehicle is deviating from the lane when steering vibration was used as the warning signal. We can conclude that the mental model for the warnings should make interpreting vehicle conditions easy, especially when the haptic warning is transmitted through the steering wheel.     

Automobile Directional Characteristics and Driver Steering Performance

Driver steering performance in a simple circular lane-keeping task, as dependent on the directional response characteristics of the vehicle, was measured. Response Surface Methodology models of steering performance are presented. Several canonical variables describe the drivers responses to vehicle changes. Clear-cut optimum vehicle characteristics cannot be determined, but certain combinations of vehicle characteristics are seen to be undesirable for various reasons related to theoretical mechanisms of driver steering control.     

Characteristic analysis for cognition of dangerous driving using automobile black boxes

Automobile black boxes are devices that collect information regarding vehicle operation and the driver’s operating situation in the case of a traffic accident. The information collected from the automobile black box, which can also be used during normal driving, can provide information about dangerous driving cognition. This study was designed to analyze characteristics of dangerous driving data and build a dangerous driving cognition system as follows. First, dangerous driving is divided into four types by considering the vehicle’s movement, such as acceleration, deceleration, turning and statistical data of traffic accidents. Second, dangerous driving data were collected by vehicle tests using the automobile black box, and characteristics of the driving data were analyzed to classify dangerous driving. Third, a standard threshold was chosen to recognize dangerous driving, and an algorithm of dangerous driving cognition was created. Finally, verification was conducted by vehicle tests with automobile black boxes embedded with the developed algorithm. The presented recognition methods of dangerous driving can be used for on/off-line management of drivers and vehicles. Scientific traffic accident databases can be built with this driving and accident information, and can be used in various industrial areas.     

A new shared control for lane keeping and road departure prevention

In recent years, the driver's active assistances have become important features in commercialised vehicles. In this paper, we present one of these features which consists of an advanced driver assistance system for lane keeping. A thorough analysis of its performance and stability with respect to variations in driver behaviour will be given. Firstly, the lateral control model based on visual preview is established and the kinematics model based on visual preview, including speed and other factors, is used to calculate the lateral error and direction error. Secondly, and according to the characteristics of the lateral control, an efficient strategy of intelligent electric vehicle lateral mode is proposed. The integration of the vehicle current lateral error and direction error is chosen as the parameter of the sliding mode switching function to design the sliding surface. The control variables are adjusted according to the fuzzy control rules to ensure that they meet the existence and reaching condition. A new fuzzy logic-based switching strategy with an efficient control law is also proposed to ensure a level of continuous and variable sharing according to the state of the driver and the vehicle positioning on the roadway. The proposed control law acts either at the centre of the lane, as a lane keeping assistance system to reduce the driver's workload for long trips, or as a lane departure avoidance system that intervenes for unintended lane departures. Simulation results are included in this paper to explain this concept.     

An optimal model-based trajectory following architecture synthesising the lateral adaptive preview strategy and longitudinal velocity planning for highly automated vehicle

Automated driving has received a broad of attentions from the academia and industry, since it is effective to greatly reduce the severity of potential traffic accidents and achieve the ultimate automobile safety and comfort. This paper presents an optimal model-based trajectory following architecture for highly automated vehicle in its driving tasks such as automated guidance or lane keeping, which includes a velocity-planning module, a steering controller and a velocity-tracking controller. The velocity-planning module considering the optimal time-consuming and passenger comforts simultaneously could generate a smooth velocity profile. The robust sliding mode control (SMC) steering controller with adaptive preview time strategy could not only track the target path well, but also avoid a big lateral acceleration occurred in its path-tracking progress due to a fuzzy-adaptive preview time mechanism introduced. In addition, an SMC controller with input–output linearisation method for velocity tracking is built and validated. Simulation results show this trajectory following architecture are effective and feasible for high automated driving vehicle, comparing with the Driver-in-the-Loop simulations performed by an experienced driver and novice driver, respectively. The simulation results demonstrate that the present trajectory following architecture could plan a satisfying longitudinal speed profile, track the target path well and safely when dealing with different road geometry structure, it ensures a good time efficiency and driving comfort simultaneously.     

Desired yaw rate and steering control method during cornering for a six-wheeled vehicle

This paper proposes a steering control method based on optimal control theory to improve the maneuverability of a six-wheeled vehicle during cornering. The six-wheeled vehicle is believed to have better performance than a four-wheeled vehicle in terms of its capability for crossing obstacles, off-road maneuvering and fail-safe handling when one or two of the tires are punctured. Although many methods to improve the four-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability have been studied and developed, there have only been a few studies on the six-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability. Some studies of the six-wheeled vehicle have been reported recently, but they are related to the desired yaw rate of a four-wheeled vehicle to control the six-wheeled vehicle’s maneuvering during corning. In this paper, the sideslip angle and yaw rate are controlled to improve the maneuverability during cornering by independent control of the steering angles of the six wheels. The desired yaw rate that is suitable for a six-wheeled vehicle is proposed as a control target. In addition, a scaled-down vehicle with six drive motors and six steering motors that can be controlled independently is designed. The performance of the proposed control methods is verified using a full model vehicle simulation and scaled-down vehicle experiment.     

大型营运客车在高速公路的换道安全性辨识

为了给大型营运客车换道预警系统设计提供参考,采用毫米波雷达、激光雷达、车道线识别传感器、GPS、视频监控系统以及控制器局域网（CAN）总线数据采集仪等设备,基于小型乘用车搭建浮动车采集平台。通过在试验线路上进行1.5×10⁴ km的驾驶试验,获取1 200余次营运客车的真实换道数据。以Jula提出的换道安全性模型为基础,结合营运客车的换道行为特征,通过分析换道进程结束后客车需要与周围车辆保持的安全距离,建立适合于营运客车的3类换道安全性识别模型（客车与自车道前方车辆、目标车道前方车辆、目标车道后方车辆）,并利用真实数据对3类模型进行验证。研究结果表明：客车换道持续时间均值为10.4 s,换道起始时刻与目标车道后方车辆的距离为10.0~40.0 m;所有换道样本中,73.3%的换道过程中客车速度要高于目标车道后方车辆,且超过90%的换道过程是由前方慢车引起;不同的速度区间下,车速和航向角联合变化情况下,驾驶人控制营运客车的横向偏移速度保持稳定,可认为客车驾驶人的心理预期换道进程存在固定经验模式,这与小型车换道的研究结论存在较大差异,传统的TTC预警算法识别率较低,在不同速度区间情况下,所提出的模型对客车与自车道前方车辆、目标车道前方车辆、目标车道后方车辆的换道安全识别评价准确率均超过了90%。     

驾驶风格对驾驶行为的影响

为了揭示驾驶风格对驾驶行为的影响规律,进而提取表征驾驶风格的特征参数,对不同风格驾驶人在感知层和操作层的驾驶行为数据进行了量化分析。首先,基于驾驶行为问卷对18名中国非职业驾驶人进行了驾驶风格问卷调查,并采用主成分分析、K-均值聚类等方法将被试驾驶人分为谨慎型、正常型和激进型3种类型。接着,被试驾驶人在搭载了SmartEye眼动仪的驾驶模拟器上开展了高速公路行车环境下的驾驶试验,同步采集了感知层的视觉特性参数和操作层的驾驶绩效参数,并采用判断抽样的方式将驾驶样本按照驾驶风格和驾驶模式（换道意图和车道保持）进行了划分,共选取了810组有效样本。最后,采用方差分析法分析了不同风格驾驶人在不同驾驶模式下的注视行为、扫视行为、横向控制特性、纵向控制特性方面相关参数的差异显著性,并提取了不同风格间存在显著差异的参数作为表征驾驶风格的特征参数。研究结果表明：驾驶风格越激进,驾驶人对周围环境关注越少,对车辆的横向控制稳定性越差,急加速和急减速行为发生的频次越高;不同风格驾驶人在意图时窗内对后视镜的注视次数（p=0.002）、方向盘转角熵值（p=0.04）、加速踏板开度（p=0.01）、制动踏板开度（p=0.02）这4个参数的差异均较为显著,因此可作为表征驾驶风格的特征参数。     

Risk management algorithm for rear-side collision avoidance using a combined steering torque overlay and differential braking

This paper describes a risk management algorithm for rear-side collision avoidance. The proposed risk management algorithm consists of a supervisor and a coordinator. The supervisor is designed to monitor collision risks between the subject vehicle and approaching vehicle in the adjacent lane. An appropriate criterion of intervention, which satisfies high acceptance to drivers through the consideration of a realistic traffic, has been determined based on the analysis of the kinematics of the vehicles in longitudinal and lateral directions. In order to assist the driver actively and increase driver's safety, a coordinator is designed to combine lateral control using a steering torque overlay by motor-driven power steering and differential braking by vehicle stability control. In order to prevent the collision while limiting actuator's control inputs and vehicle dynamics to safe values for the assurance of the driver's comfort, the Lyapunov theory and linear matrix inequalities based optimisation methods have been used. The proposed risk management algorithm has been evaluated via simulation using CarSim and MATLAB/Simulink.