Design of the optimal motions of autonomous vehicles in intersections through neural networks.

The handling of vehicle interactions is a challenge in the research into the traveling of autonomous vehicles. This paper focuses on collision-free motion design of autonomous vehicles to guarantee their minimum traveling time in intersections. First, a decision logic of the order of the vehicles in intersections is proposed. Based on the decision logic a constrained nonlinear optimization method is also proposed, with which the minimum traveling time of the vehicles without their collision is guaranteed. Since the on-line solution of the nonlinear optimization task can be numerically complex, a neural network based approximation of the optimal solution is developed. The efficiency of the method with various intersection scenarios is shown in the CarSim simulation environment.