Hierarchical-distributed optimized coordination of intersection traffic

TL;DR

This paper presents a hierarchical-distributed method for intersection traffic coordination that optimizes travel time and energy use while ensuring safety through a central manager and local vehicle control.

Contribution

It introduces a provably safe, hierarchical-distributed framework combining centralized scheduling with local control for intersection traffic management.

Findings

The method reduces travel time and energy consumption compared to traditional signals.

Safety guarantees are rigorously proven and maintained.

Simulation results demonstrate effective coordination across various scenarios.

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of coordinating the vehicular traffic at an intersection and on the branches leading to it for minimizing a combination of total travel time and energy consumption. We propose a provably safe hierarchical-distributed solution to balance computational complexity and optimality of the system operation. In our design, a central intersection manager communicates with vehicles heading towards the intersection, groups them into clusters (termed bubbles) as they appear, and determines an optimal schedule of passage through the intersection for each bubble. The vehicles in each bubble receive their schedule and implement local distributed control to ensure system-wide inter-vehicular safety while respecting speed and acceleration limits, conforming to the assigned schedule, and seeking to optimize their individual trajectories. Our analysis rigorously establishes that the different aspects of the hierarchical design operate in concert and that the safety guarantees provided by the proposed design are satisfied. We illustrate its execution in a suite of simulations and compare its performance to traditional signal-based coordination over a wide range of system parameters.