Optimized path planning and scheduling strategies for connected and automated vehicles at single-lane roundabouts.

Wang, Lifeng; Liang, Hu; Jian, Yuxin; Luo, Qiang; Gong, Xiaoxiang; Zhang, Yiwei · 2024 · DOAJ

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309732

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Summary

This study addresses the challenge of cooperative driving for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) at single-lane roundabouts, aiming to improve traffic efficiency and reduce fuel consumption while ensuring safety. While roundabouts generally offer lower accident rates than signalized intersections, their limited capacity and driver unfamiliarity often lead to delays. Existing research has largely focused on individual vehicle navigation or simple first-come, first-served scheduling, neglecting integrated multi-vehicle coordination and comprehensive path planning. This paper proposes a centralized optimization method that combines geometric path planning with speed control strategies to manage complex multi-vehicle interactions. The methodology begins with a geometric path planning approach to define vehicle trajectories and identify conflict points within the roundabout. The authors establish a roundabout model divided into detection, pre-control, and control areas, assuming ideal communication conditions with no delay or packet loss. Vehicle dynamics are modeled as second-order linear systems considering longitudinal motion only, with constraints on acceleration, deceleration, and a maximum entry speed of 10 m/s. The core innovation involves mapping the optimal arrival times at conflict points to optimal entry times, thereby simplifying multi-vehicle coordination into a speed control problem. Using the Pontryagin minimum principle, the authors develop two speed optimization strategies. They analyze four potential traffic scenarios to determine optimal arrival times, incorporating a minimum safety time interval of 0.2 seconds to prevent collisions. The system identifies conflicts by comparing vehicle arrival times and adjusts the speed of trailing vehicles to maintain safe intervals. Simulation analysis conducted in MATLAB demonstrates that the proposed control strategy effectively identifies potential conflicts and implements optimal speed adjustments. The results indicate that vehicles can navigate the roundabout efficiently in terms of both time and fuel consumption without collisions. The strategy successfully handles rear-end collision risks for vehicles in the same lane and side-swipe risks for vehicles from different lanes by enforcing the 0.2-second minimum time interval. The study extends the fusion problem from two vehicles at a single conflict point to multiple vehicles at multiple conflict points, realizing efficient scheduling for complex traffic scenarios. The significance of this work lies in its provision of a practical, centralized optimization framework for CAVs at single-lane roundabouts. By transforming complex spatial coordination into temporal speed control, the method reduces computational complexity while ensuring safety and efficiency. This approach offers a viable solution for enhancing roundabout capacity through cooperative driving technologies, addressing gaps in previous studies that failed to integrate path planning with multi-vehicle scheduling. The findings support the broader application of CAVs in urban traffic management, particularly in intersections where traditional signaling is inefficient or costly.

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• intersection design