A Cooperative Control Framework for CAV Lane Change in a Mixed Traffic Environment

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cooperative control framework for CAV lane changing in mixed traffic, ensuring safety and efficiency through vehicle cooperation and collision avoidance mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel control framework enabling cooperative lane changing between CAVs and HDVs, enhancing safety and traffic flow in mixed environments.

Findings

Cooperative control improves lane change safety.

Enhanced traffic flow efficiency in mixed traffic.

Collision avoidance is effective during lane changes.

Abstract

In preparing for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), a worrisome aspect is the transition era which will be characterized by mixed traffic (where CAVs and human-driven vehicles (HDVs) share the roadway). Consistent with expectations that CAVs will improve road safety, on-road CAVs may adopt rather conservative control policies, and this will likely cause HDVs to unduly exploit CAV conservativeness by driving in ways that imperil safety. A context of this situation is lane-changing by the CAV. Without cooperation from other vehicles in the traffic stream, it can be extremely unsafe for the CAV to change lanes under dense, high-speed traffic conditions. The cooperation of neighboring vehicles is indispensable. To address this issue, this paper develops a control framework where connected HDVs and CAV can cooperate to facilitate safe and efficient lane changing by the CAV. Throughout the lane-change process, the safety of not only the CAV but also of all neighboring vehicles, is ensured through a collision avoidance mechanism in the control framework. The overall traffic flow efficiency is analyzed in terms of the ambient level of CHDV-CAV cooperation. The analysis outcomes are including the CAVs lane-change feasibility, the overall duration of the lane change. Lane change is a major source of traffic disturbance at multi-lane highways that impair their traffic flow efficiency. In providing a control framework for lane change in mixed traffic, this study shows how CHDV-CAV cooperation could help enhancing system efficiency.