Benefit evaluation of V2X-enhanced braking in view obstructed crossing use cases

TL;DR

This paper evaluates a V2X-enhanced two-stage braking system that improves crash avoidance in obstructed crossing scenarios by combining vehicle-to-everything communication with traditional onboard sensors.

Contribution

It introduces a novel two-stage braking system that integrates V2X communication to enhance crash avoidance when onboard sensors are obstructed.

Findings

V2X-enhanced system increases crash avoidance rate

Reduces crash severity in obstructed scenarios

Outperforms AEB-only systems in tests

Abstract

If a crash between two vehicles is imminent, an Automatic Emergency Brake (AEB) is activated to avoid or mitigate the accident. However, the trigger mechanism of the AEB relies on the vehicle's onboard sensors, such as radar and cameras, that require a line of sight to detect the crash opponent. If the line of sight is impaired, for example by bad weather or an obstruction, the AEB cannot be activated in time to avoid the crash. To deal with these cases, a 2-stage braking system is proposed, where the first stage consists of a partial brake that is triggered by Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The second stage is composed of the standard AEB that is triggered exclusively by an onboard sensor detection. The performance of this V2X-enhanced 2-stage braking system is analysed in obstructed crossing use cases and the results are compared against the use of an AEB-only system. The benefit is quantitatively assessed by determination of the crash avoidance rate and, if the crash cannot be avoided, by estimation of the crash severity mitigation.