V-STC: A Time-Efficient Multi-Vehicle Coordinated Trajectory Planning Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces V-STC, a novel multi-vehicle trajectory planning method that improves temporal efficiency by optimizing variable-time-step corridors, enabling safer and faster autonomous vehicle coordination.

Contribution

The paper proposes a variable-time-step spatio-temporal corridor (V-STC) framework that enhances multi-vehicle coordination efficiency by optimizing both spatial and temporal aspects.

Findings

V-STC reduces overall temporal occupancy for each vehicle.

Simulation shows V-STC achieves safer, more time-efficient coordination.

The approach outperforms existing spatio-temporal corridor methods.

Abstract

Coordinating the motions of multiple autonomous vehicles (AVs) requires planning frameworks that ensure safety while making efficient use of space and time. This paper presents a new approach, termed variable-time-step spatio-temporal corridor (V-STC), that enhances the temporal efficiency of multi-vehicle coordination. An optimization model is formulated to construct a V-STC for each AV, in which both the spatial configuration of the corridor cubes and their time durations are treated as decision variables. By allowing the corridor's spatial position and time step to vary, the constructed V-STC reduces the overall temporal occupancy of each AV while maintaining collision-free separation in the spatio-temporal domain. Based on the generated V-STC, a dynamically feasible trajectory is then planned independently for each AV. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed method achieves safe multi-vehicle coordination and yields more time-efficient motion compared with existing STC approaches.