Periodic and Event-Triggering for Joint Capacity Maximization and Safe Intersection Crossing

TL;DR

The paper tackles the bottleneck of intersection crossings for Connected Autonomous Vehicles by introducing an uncertainty-aware, centralized intersection manager. It proposes two approaches: AVOID-PERIOD, a periodic receding-horizon optimization that updates CAV trajectories using fresh state estimates, and AVOID-EVENT, an event-triggered variant that reduces computational and communication load in high-traffic settings. The methods rely on a Gaussian linear motion model, ellipsoid-encoded uncertainty, and collision-avoidance constraints to maximize intersection capacity while minimizing gas consumption. Results from extensive simulations show significant improvements in traversal distance and capacity, with substantial reductions in re-optimizations and downlink traffic for the event-triggered approach, indicating strong potential for scalable, safe CAV coordination at busy intersections.

Abstract

Intersection crossing represents a bottleneck for transportation systems and Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) may be the groundbreaking solution to the problem. This work proposes a novel framework, i.e, AVOID-PERIOD, where an Intersection Manager (IM) controls CAVs approaching an intersection in order to maximize intersection capacity while minimizing the CAVs' gas consumption. Contrary to most of the works in the literature, the CAVs' location uncertainty is accounted for and periodic communication and re-optimization allows for the creation of safe trajectories for the CAVs. To improve scalability for high-traffic intersections, an event-triggering approach is also developed (AVOID-EVENT) that minimizes computational and communication complexity. AVOID-EVENT reduces the number of re-optimizations required by 92.2%, while retaining most of the benefits introduced by AVOID-PERIOD.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: Overview of the IM's optimization scenario.
• Figure 2: CAVs' traveled distance in $T$.
• Figure 3: Minimum distance between CAVs that share a possible collision area.
• Figure 4: CAVs' consecutive acceleration controls in intersection.