Microsimulation Modeling of Coordination of Automated Guided Vehicles at Intersections

One of the challenges with autonomous vehicles is their performance at intersections. An alternative control method for the coordination of autonomous vehicles at intersections is shown. The proposed approach was grounded in multiple-robot coordination and took into account vehicle dynamics as well as realistic communications constraints. The existing concept of decentralized navigation functions was combined with a sensing model, and a crossing strategy was developed. The simulation results showed that because of the proposed approach, vehicles had smoother trajectories when crossing at a four-way intersection. The proposed method was compared with adaptive traffic lights and roundabouts in terms of throughput. Results showed that using a decentralized navigation function for the coordination of autonomous vehicles improved their performance by reducing energy consumption and pollution emissions.