A study on model fidelity for model predictive control-based obstacle avoidance in high-speed autonomous ground vehicles

This paper investigates the level of model fidelity needed in order for a model predictive control (MPC)-based obstacle avoidance algorithm to be able to safely and quickly avoid obstacles even when the vehicle is close to its dynamic limits. The context of this work is large autonomous ground vehicles that manoeuvre at high speed within unknown, unstructured, flat environments and have significant vehicle dynamics-related constraints. Five different representations of vehicle dynamics models are considered: four variations of the two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) representation as lower fidelity models and a fourteen DoF representation with combined-slip Magic Formula tyre model as a higher fidelity model. It is concluded that the two DoF representation that accounts for tyre nonlinearities and longitudinal load transfer is necessary for the MPC-based obstacle avoidance algorithm in order to operate the vehicle at its limits within an environment that includes large obstacles. For less challenging environments, however, the two DoF representation with linear tyre model and constant axle loads is sufficient.     

Improving the robustness of an MPC-based obstacle avoidance algorithm to parametric uncertainty using worst-case scenarios

Previous work by the authors focused on obstacle avoidance in large, high-speed autonomous ground vehicles within unknown and unstructured environments. This work resulted in a nonlinear model predictive control based algorithm that simultaneously optimises both the speed and steering commands. The algorithm can exploit the dynamic limits of the vehicle to navigate it to a target position as quickly as possible without compromising safety. In the algorithm, a model of the vehicle is used explicitly to predict and optimise future actions, but in practice the model parameter values are not known exactly. Thus, in this paper, the robustness of the algorithm to parametric uncertainty is evaluated. It is first demonstrated that using nominal parameter values in the algorithm leads to safety issues in 24% of the evaluated scenarios with the considered parametric uncertainty distributions. To improve the algorithm's robustness, a novel double-worst-case formulation is developed that simultaneously accounts for the robust satisfaction of the two safety requirements of high-speed obstacle avoidance: collision-free and no-wheel-lift-off. Results from simulations with stratified random scenarios and worst-case scenarios show that the double-worst-case formulation renders the algorithm robust to all uncertainty realisations tested. The trade-off between robustness and the task completion performance is also quantified.     

Evaluation of automotive forward collision warning and collision avoidance algorithms

Collision warning/collision avoidance (CW/CA) systems target a major crash type and their development is a major thrust of the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative. They are a natural extension of adaptive cruise control systems already available on many car models. Many CW/CA algorithms have recently been proposed but the existing literature mainly focuses on algorithm development. Evaluations of these algorithms have been usually based on subjective ratings. The main contribution of this paper is the utilization of a naturalistic driving data set for the evaluation of CW/CA algorithms. We first collect manual driving data from the ICCFOT project, then process the data by Kalman smoothing, and finally identify ‘threatening’ and ‘safe’ data sets according to vehicle brake inputs and vehicle range behavior. Five CW/CA algorithms published in the literature are evaluated against the identified data sets. The performance of these algorithms is determined through a performance metric commonly used in signal detection and information retrieval under unbalanced data population.     

Evaluation of automotive forward collision warning and collision avoidance algorithms

Collision warning/collision avoidance (CW/CA) systems target a major crash type and their development is a major thrust of the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative. They are a natural extension of adaptive cruise control systems already available on many car models. Many CW/CA algorithms have recently been proposed but the existing literature mainly focuses on algorithm development. Evaluations of these algorithms have been usually based on subjective ratings. The main contribution of this paper is the utilization of a naturalistic driving data set for the evaluation of CW/CA algorithms. We first collect manual driving data from the ICCFOT project, then process the data by Kalman smoothing, and finally identify 'threatening' and 'safe' data sets according to vehicle brake inputs and vehicle range behavior. Five CW/CA algorithms published in the literature are evaluated against the identified data sets. The performance of these algorithms is determined through a performance metric commonly used in signal detection and information retrieval under unbalanced data population.     

Unified decision-making and control for highway collision avoidance using active front steer and individual wheel torque control

ABSTRACT

Collision avoidance is a crucial function for all ground vehicles, and using integrated chassis systems to support the driver presents a growing opportunity in active safety. With actuators such as in-wheel electric motors, active front steer and individual wheel brake control, there is an opportunity to develop integrated chassis systems that fully support the driver in safety critical situations. Here we consider the scenario of an impending frontal collision with a stationary or slower moving vehicle in the same driving lane. Traditionally, researchers have approached the required collision avoidance manoeuver as a hierarchical scheme, which separates the decision-making, path planning and path tracking. In this context, a key decision is whether to perform straight-line braking, or steer to change lanes, or indeed perform combined braking and steering. This paper approaches the collision avoidance directly from the perspective of constrained dynamic optimisation, using a single optimisation procedure to cover these aspects within a single online optimisation scheme of model predictive control (MPC). While the new approach is demonstrated in the context of a fully autonomous safety system, it is expected that the same approach can incorporate driver inputs as additional constraints, yielding a flexible and coherent driver assistance system.     

基于车辆动力学模型的换道轨迹规划研究

针对自动驾驶车辆换道轨迹规划时的操纵稳定性问题,基于CarSim/Simulink仿真平台建立了车辆动力学模型,构建了轨迹规划系统框架,通过轨迹信息后处理并提出了目标函数设计,进行了横向控制序列采样以保证车辆的稳定与极限性能,完成了算法对轨迹的综合评价选优。随后开展了仿真试验,对比分析了轨迹跟踪控制系统下的实际轨迹、最优规划方法所规划的换道轨迹。仿真结果表明,该轨迹规划系统框架及算法模型能有效提高车辆的操纵稳定性,可实现冰雪路面等极端工况下自动驾驶车辆换道轨迹规划。     

基于非线性模型预测控制的车辆纵向队列协调控制

本文中针对基于分层控制结构的车辆队列上、下层控制缺少联系的问题,提出了车辆队列跟驰与个体车辆动力学稳定性协调控制的思路,其基本思想是在保证队列中个体车辆安全稳定行驶的同时,尽可能实现队列跟驰控制的目标。基于非线性模型预测控制(nonlinear model predictive control, NMPC)方法设计了车辆队列协调控制方案,设计了包括跟驰间距误差、跟驰速度误差以及车速与车轮圆周速度差3个子目标的优化目标函数,将队列跟驰与车辆动力学稳定性的协调控制转化为约束优化控制问题;基于序列二次规划(sequential quadratic programming, SQP)方法进行求解,得到车辆前、后轴的制动/驱动力矩来实现上层决策输出的期望跟驰加速度。基于由3车辆组成的非线性队列模型对控制方案进行了仿真分析,结果表明,所提出的基于NMPC的车辆队列协调控制策略可以在大范围操纵工况下,在保证车辆安全稳定行驶的基础上实现队列的跟驰控制。     

复杂路况下汽车主动避撞报警技术研究

汽车主动避撞报警技术对提高行车安全有重要意义,但如何减少复杂路况下行车时的误警率是当前需解决的关键问题。通过测量车载信息如汽车转向角度、车速、制动信号、转向灯信号等获知汽车的行驶状态,利用雷达技术感知路况和危险,基于合理的报警算法和控制策略,研制出复杂路况下的汽车主动避撞报警系统。通过实际道路报警试验,结果表明所采取的减少误警率的方法是有效的,所开发的报警系统更趋实用化。     

智能汽车对无信号交叉口行人的避撞控制

针对智能汽车在无信号交叉口对横穿行人的避撞问题,研究了主动转向避撞控制策略。基于多层模型预测控制方法,采用分层控制策略设计局部规划层控制器与全局跟踪层控制器,在此基础上根据交叉口处汽车与行人的轨迹特征计算人车碰撞剩余时间,改进传统人工势场法构造避撞函数,规划出既能规避交叉口内存在碰撞风险的行人又能使偏差最小的局部避撞路径,并使智能汽车在满足多项动力学约束时准确跟踪参考路径,通过搭建CarSim/Simulink联合仿真平台,结合广东省2006—2018年交通事故数据库选取对交叉口人车碰撞有显著影响的因素,设计仿真场景进行仿真分析。结果表明：智能汽车能在多个初始点完成对参考路径的跟踪,控制器对不同速度和附着条件有较高的鲁棒性,高速低附着场景中,智能汽车横向加速度小于0.4 g、质心侧偏角小于2°、前轮侧偏角小于2.5°,各约束量满足舒适性和平稳性条件;4个典型交叉口场景中,智能汽车以不同速度直行或转弯通过交叉口,均能识别横穿行人中存在碰撞风险的行人实现主动转向避撞。     

Run-off-road and recovery – state estimation and vehicle control strategies

Despite many advances in vehicle safety technology, traffic fatalities remain a devastating burden on society. With over two-thirds of all fatal single-vehicle crashes occurring off the roadway, run-off-road (ROR) crashes have become the focus of much roadway safety research. Current countermeasures, including roadway infrastructure modifications and some on-board vehicle safety systems, remain limited in their approach as they do not directly address the critical factor of driver behaviour. It has been shown that ROR crashes are often the result of poor driver performance leading up to the crash. In this study, the performance of two control algorithms, sliding control and linear quadratic control, was investigated for use in an autonomous ROR vehicle recovery system. The two controllers were simulated amongst a variety of ROR conditions where typical driver performance was inadequate to safely operate the vehicle. The sliding controller recovered the fastest within the nominal conditions but exhibited large variability in performance amongst the more extreme ROR scenarios. Despite some small sacrifices in lateral error and yaw rate, the linear quadratic controller demonstrated a higher level of consistency and stability amongst the various conditions examined. Overall, the linear quadratic controller recovered the vehicle 25% faster than the sliding controller while using 70% less steering, which combined with its robust performance, indicates its high potential as an autonomous ROR countermeasure.     

Model predictive control with constraints for a nonlinear adaptive cruise control vehicle model in transition manoeuvres

A vehicle following control law, based on the model predictive control method, to perform transition manoeuvres (TMs) for a nonlinear adaptive cruise control (ACC) vehicle is presented in this paper. The TM controller ultimately establishes a steady-state following distance behind a preceding vehicle to avoid collision, keeping account of acceleration limits, safe distance, and state constraints. The vehicle dynamics model is for continuous-time domain and captures the real dynamics of the sub-vehicle models for steady-state and transient operations. The ACC vehicle can execute the TM successfully and achieves a steady-state in the presence of complex dynamics within the constraint boundaries.     

极限工况下主动前轮转向汽车稳定性控制

轮胎对汽车稳定性有重要影响,研究和利用轮胎的非线性特性有助于扩展汽车的稳定域。本文基于非线性轮胎模型,提出一种改进型线性时变模型预测控制(LTV-MPC)方法。该方法能扩展主动前轮转向汽车的稳定范围,提高极限工况下主动前轮转向汽车的稳定性。仿真结果表明,该方法比传统的LTV-MPC方法具有更好的稳定性控制效果。     

基于模型预测理论的车辆纵向避撞控制研究

为了实现电动车辆纵向避撞控制,提高车辆的安全性和人性化需求,文章针对分布式电动汽车,建立了平面运动的简化动力学模型;提出了基于 MPC 的纵向避撞控制策略,其中基于传感器获取的障碍物运动信息,采用滚动优化方法设计顶层控制器,以求解车辆期望纵向加速度。底 层分配控制器则基于车辆期望加速度,对车轮转矩进行最优分配,实现基于模型预测控制的车辆纵向避撞控制。最后通过仿真测试控制器的有效性。     

面向动态避障的智能汽车滚动时域路径规划

为解决城市低速条件下智能汽车在避障过程中的路径规划问题,提出面向动态避障的智能汽车滚动时域路径规划方法。首先,划分车道可行区域,利用3次拉格朗日插值法拟合车道边界,并根据\"车-路\"的相对位置关系将车道区域进一步划分为车道间区域与车道内区域两部分。其次,以区域虚拟力场进行动态交通场景模拟,包括在障碍车周身沿车道方向的虚拟矩形区域斥力场,行驶目标位置的虚拟引力场和车道保持虚拟区域引力场3个部分,然后结合划分的车道区域确定各虚拟力场的作用区域。再次,建立主车动力学与运动学模型,障碍车运动学预测模型,把主车与障碍车无碰撞,主车行驶在车道内区域,趋向目标位置以及保证车辆稳定性作为优化目标,综合车辆模型的控制输入、状态变量等动力学约束条件,构建多目标的滚动时域控制器用于车辆避障路径规划,求解获得前轮转角作为控制量。最后,利用MATLAB和veDYNA软件对提出的路径规划控制系统分别在静态障碍和动态障碍工况下进行联合仿真。研究结果表明：该方法能够很好地解决躲避静态障碍和低速动态障碍车的问题,控制车辆驶向目标位置,并且在避障过程中满足车辆的动力学约束,同时又不会与道路边界发生碰撞,保证了车辆的安全性和稳定性。     

Vehicle rollover avoidance by application of gain-scheduled LQR controllers using state observers

Many researches have been conducted in the area of control applied to vehicle dynamics, aiming at reducing the possibility of the occurrence of the type of accident known as rollover. In this research, based on a common nonlinear model and its linearisation, a method for properly selecting matrices for solving the Riccati equation considering different speeds was proposed. The method showed in which ways speed really influences the choice of controller gains. By developing the dynamic equations for the yaw- and roll-coupled motions and modelling of controllers and state observers, it is possible to compare the efficacy of this control strategy using both linear and nonlinear simulations using Matlab. Significant results were obtained regarding the reduction of the rollover coefficient for a double-lane change manoeuvre at different speeds, thus indicating advantages of using this controller in practical cases.     

新型汽车主动避撞安全距离模型

针对现有模型的不足,以驾驶员车间距保持目的假设为基础建立了一种新型汽车主动避撞安全距离模型,通过驾驶员试验获得了反映驾驶员驾驶特点的模型参数。经仿真及试验对比,该模型计算结果体现了驾驶员的驾驶特点,能够适用于多种交通状况,满足了汽车主动避撞系统的要求。