Lane Change Decision Research Articles

Vehicle Lane Changing Game Model Based on Improved SVM Algorithm

In order to improve the autonomous lane-changing performance of unmanned vehicles, this paper aims to solve the problem of inaccurate decision classification in traditional support vector machine (SVM) algorithms applied to the lane-changing decision-making stage of intelligent driving vehicles. By using game theory-related theories and combining the improved support vector machine (SSA-SVM) method, a vehicle autonomous lane-changing strategy based on game theory is established. The optimized SVM method has certain advantages for vehicle lane-changing decision-making with a small sample size in actual production processes. The lane-changing decision judgment accuracy rate of the SSA-SVM algorithm model can reach 93.6% compared with the SVM algorithm model without algorithm optimization; the SSA-SVM algorithm model has obvious advantages in decision performance and running speed. Therefore, the proposed new algorithm can effectively solve the problem of the objective consideration of the payoff function in conventional decision game theory.

Human-like Decision Making for autonomous lane change driving: a hybrid inverse reinforcement learning with game-theoretical vehicle interaction model

The development of automated driving vehicles aims to provide safer, comfortable, and more efficient mobility options. However, the decision-making control of autonomous vehicles still embraces limitations on human performance mimicry. These limitations become particularly evident in complex and unfamiliar driving scenarios, where weak decisionmaking abilities and poor adaptation of vehicle behaviour are prominent issues. This paper proposes a game-theoretic decisionmaking algorithm for human-like driving in the vehicle lane change scenario. Firstly, an inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) model is used to quantitatively analyse the lane change trajectories of the natural driving dataset, establishing the human-like human cost function. Subsequently, joint safety, comfort to build the comprehensive decision cost function. Use the combined decision cost function to conduct a non-cooperative game of vehicle lane changing decision to solve the optimal decision of host vehicle lane changing. The host vehicle lane-changing decision problem is formulated as a Stackelberg game optimization problem. To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm proposed in this study, a lane change test scenario has been established. Firstly, we analyse the human-like decision-making model derived by the maximum entropy inverse reinforcement learning algorithm to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the IRL algorithm. Secondly, the human-like game decisionmaking algorithm in this paper is validated by conducting an interactive lane-changing experiment with obstacle vehicles of different driving styles. The experimental results prove that the human-like driving decision-making model proposed in this study can make lane-changing behaviours in line with human driving patterns in lane-changing scenarios of expressway.

Eco-driving control for connected plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in urban scenarios with enhanced lane change engagement

Eco-driving control techniques have shown significant potential in reducing energy consumption in urban scenarios. The presence of slow-moving vehicles typically disrupts ecological velocity planning, leading to an increase in energy consumption. To solve it, this study proposes a hierarchical eco-driving control strategy, that integrates speed optimization and lane change decision-making in urban scenarios, to not only ensure traffic efficiency, but also save the energy consumption. Firstly, a data-driven energy model is leveraged in the upper level to estimate the energy consumption of candidate lanes and generate ecological lane change decisions. Then, in the lower level, the preceding vehicles and traffic lights are considered to plan an ecological velocity profile via deep reinforcement learning algorithm after transitions to the target driving lane, thereby enhancing the fuel economy and travel efficiency. A virtual driving environment model is established to verify the proposed method through numerous simulation cases. The results indicate that the proposed method effectively reduces energy consumption while maintaining favorable travel efficiency, compared with conventional benchmarks. Furthermore, the notable improvements are observed particularly in free traffic conditions.

Enhancing Cooperative Lane-Changing for Intelligent Connected Vehicles: A DDPG-Based Approach

Current research on lane-changing for intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) primarily focuses on the control of a single ICV. Even studies on cooperative lane-changing among multiple ICVs often use fixed control algorithms, which are difficult to adapt to constantly changing traffic conditions. This paper proposes a method based on the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) model. The DDPG algorithm has strong generalization capabilities, enabling it to handle complex traffic scenarios. Combined with the design of innovative reward functions, it successfully achieves the control of cooperative lane-changing for multiple ICVs. The novelty of this model is mainly reflected in the implementation of multiple ICVs control and cooperative strategies through the design of a speed reward function. Specifically, when two or more ICVs come within a 15-m range, a collaborative strategy is implemented. In this strategy, the original speeds of the vehicles involved are replaced with their average speed. This average speed is then used to compute the velocity reward. Moreover, an additional headway reward is introduced when two vehicles are on the same lane with a distance of less than 10[Formula: see text]m between them, further optimizing lane-changing decisions and enhancing driving efficiency. The innovative approach described in this paper has been validated through simulations in the highway-env simulation environment. The model’s effectiveness was tested under various conditions, including different road densities and numbers of ICVs. Results indicate that with an increasing number of episodes, the model consistently enhances both the fleet’s and each individual vehicle’s average speed and steps. It also ensures that the headway is maintained within a desired range of 10–20[Formula: see text]m. This paper showcases the potential applications of a new DDPG-based multi-networked vehicular cooperative lane-changing decision model across different scenarios. These findings provide important reference values for future research and development in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), particularly in optimizing vehicle cooperative behaviors and enhancing traffic efficiency. This paper emphasizes the model’s potential to significantly impact the management and operation of future vehicular networks, paving the way for more sophisticated and efficient transportation systems.

Lane-Change Decision of Automatic Driving Based on Reinforcement Learning Framework

In highway traffic environment, vehicle lane-change decisions are a critical and difficult task for an agent. The traditional deep Q-network (DQN) has been the main architecture used for this task. However, DQN still faces two major challenges in solving the lane-changing decision-making problem for autonomous driving: 1) the instability in the training process leads to frequent collisions and 2) the single reward function limits the agent’s ability to learn representative domain knowledge about highways. To address these issues, this paper proposes a multi-reward DQN for highway driving decisions, with long short-term memory (LSTM) and self-attention. We call this model LAMRDQN. It incorporates LSTM and self-attention mechanism into Q-network to reduce frequent collisions. In addition, the unitary reward is changed into multiple reward functions—each reward emphasizing a specific factor, such as speed, obeying traffic rules, and lane changing. The use of multiple rewards enables the model to capture and optimize various aspects of autonomous driving on highway tasks, thereby obtaining more representative domain knowledge. The experiment results show that, in the highway environment, the method can effectively improve the problems of frequent collisions and poor learning performance when vehicles change lanes, and has better overtaking performance than related reinforcement learning algorithms.

An improved hierarchical deep reinforcement learning algorithm for multi-intelligent vehicle lane change

Lane change is a pivotal technology in autonomous driving, playing a significant role in improving traffic conditions. The control task of lane change becomes exceptionally complex for coordination of multiple intelligent vehicles, especially in unpredictable situations. To address this issue, the paper proposes a novel multi-intelligent vehicle lane change method (MVLC) based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). The MVLC features a hierarchical framework that includes a lower-layer lane change controller and an upper-layer reinforcement learning decision-making method. In the lower layer, a lane change controller is designed to execute motion control for a single vehicle, consisting of a lateral controller utilizing dueling double deep Q-network to make lane change decision and a longitudinal controller that employs Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) to follow the preceding vehicle. In the upper layer, a model-free DRL method is used for simultaneous control of multiple intelligent vehicles. To learn the optimal policy, a comprehensive reward function is designed. Finally, experiments are conducted in mixed traffic to valid the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results show that MVLC achieves secure and timely lane changes for multiple vehicles. Therefore, the method is expected to have significant potential for improving overall traffic efficiency and mitigating traffic congestion.

Influence of surrounding traffic on lane change dynamics: Insights from a video-based laboratory study

The inherent complexity associated with lane-changing manoeuvres can significantly disrupt traffic flow and increase the risk of collisions. While the lane-changing vehicle influences the surrounding traffic, it is also simultaneously influenced by it. This study aims to examine how the presence and behaviour of surrounding vehicles affect the lane changer's behaviour. A study was conducted in the laboratory using video stimuli of various simulated lane-changing scenarios to achieve the research aim. The study used a two-block design. In the first block, the impact of the lag vehicle was evaluated by varying its gap and behaviour (acceleration, deceleration or maintaining speed) relative to the lane-changing vehicle. In the second block, both the lead and lag gaps were manipulated with respect to the lane-changing vehicle. Data from the participants (n=29) were collected on dependent variables, including lane change decisions (gap acceptance or rejection), perceived cooperation, and reaction time. The analysis was conducted using an Aligned Rank Transform ANOVA. The findings of this laboratory-based study suggest that the lag vehicle, specifically its behaviour, has more influence on lane change decisions than the lead vehicle in the target lane. Additionally, when a lag vehicle decelerates to create a gap in response to a lane changer's request, its actions are perceived as more cooperative, compared to when it accelerates or maintains speed. Furthermore, decisions to change lanes are made faster when the lag vehicle shows a deceleration behaviour. The results of this laboratory-based study provide valuable insights for improving current lane-changing models. We also discuss the implications of findings for improving algorithms governing autonomous vehicle interactions in mixed traffic. Finally, we discuss the benefits and limitations of laboratory-based approaches in studying causal relationships among different factors, as well as the generalizability of our findings.

Lane change decision prediction: an efficient BO-XGB modelling approach with SHAP analysis

The lane-change decision (LCD) is a critical aspect of driving behaviour. This study proposes an LCD model based on a Bayesian optimization (BO) framework and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) to predict whether a vehicle should change lanes. First, an LCD point extraction method is proposed to refine the exact LCD points with a highD dataset to increase model learning accuracy. Subsequently, an efficient XGBoost with BO (BO-XGB) was used to learn the LCD principles. The prediction accuracy on the highD dataset was 99.14% with a computation time of 66.837s. The accuracy on the CQSkyEyeX dataset was 99.45%. Model explanation using the shapley additive explanation (SHAP) method was developed to analyse the mechanism of the BO-XGB’s LCD prediction results, including global and sample explanations. The former indicates the particular contribution of each feature to the model prediction throughout the entire dataset. The latter denotes each feature's contribution to a single sample.

Fuzzy inference systems for discretionary lane changing decisions: Model improvements and research challenges

Lane Changing Decision Model (LCDM) is a critical component in semi- and fully-automated driving systems. Recent research has found that Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is a promising approach to implementing LCDMs. To improve the FIS’s performance, this research reviewed the challenges in the development of a FIS model to make the yes,no decisions in discretionary lane changes. The FIS model was revised to bring its fuzzy inference rules more consistent with the fuzzy membership functions, and its composition and defuzzification methods more in line with the classical fuzzy logic theory. An equitable test data set with approximately equal number of yes,no data points was assembled from the same NGSIM data used in the past research. The test results proved that: (1) A LCDM’s performance was dependent on how the yes,no decisions in the test data set were manually labeled; and (2) Separating the fuzzy inference rules into a yes group and a no group and compute the results separately yielded potentially better decision accuracy. Furthermore, The Genetic Expression Programming Model (GEPM) performed better than the improved FIS-based model. The findings led the authors to suggest two possible research directions: (1) Add the subject vehicle’s speed as an input to the LCDM and redesign the decision-making model; and (2) Construct models for congested and uncongested traffic separately. The authors further suggested the use of instrumented vehicles to collect a set of high-fidelity lane changing data in the naturalistic driving environment. (word count: 246)

Deep Reinforcement Learning Lane-Changing Decision Algorithm for Intelligent Vehicles Combining LSTM Trajectory Prediction

Intelligent decisions for autonomous lane-changing in vehicles have consistently been a focal point of research in the industry. Traditional lane-changing algorithms, which rely on predefined rules, are ill-suited for the complexities and variabilities of real-world road conditions. In this study, we propose an algorithm that leverages the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) reinforcement learning, integrated with a long short-term memory (LSTM) trajectory prediction model, termed as LSTM-DDPG. In the proposed LSTM-DDPG model, the LSTM state module transforms the observed values from the observation module into a state representation, which then serves as a direct input to the DDPG actor network. Meanwhile, the LSTM prediction module translates the historical trajectory coordinates of nearby vehicles into a word-embedding vector via a fully connected layer, thus providing predicted trajectory information for surrounding vehicles. This integrated LSTM approach considers the potential influence of nearby vehicles on the lane-changing decisions of the subject vehicle. Furthermore, our study emphasizes the safety, efficiency, and comfort of the lane-changing process. Accordingly, we designed a reward and penalty function for the LSTM-DDPG algorithm and determined the optimal network structure parameters. The algorithm was then tested on a simulation platform built with MATLAB/Simulink. Our findings indicate that the LSTM-DDPG model offers a more realistic representation of traffic scenarios involving vehicle interactions. When compared to the traditional DDPG algorithm, the LSTM-DDPG achieved a 7.4% increase in average single-step rewards after normalization, underscoring its superior performance in enhancing lane-changing safety and efficiency. This research provides new ideas for advanced lane-changing decisions in autonomous vehicles.

Multi-head attention-based intelligent vehicle lane change decision and trajectory prediction model in highways

With the aim to improve the interaction between intelligent vehicles and human drivers, this article proposes the MCLG (multi-head attention + convolutional social pooling + long short-term memory + Gaussian mixture model) lane change decision and trajectory prediction model, which includes a lane-changing intention decision module. The model comprises a lane change decision module responsible for determining three lane change intentions: left lane change, right lane change, and car-following. Subsequently, a multi-head attention mechanism processes complex vehicle interaction information to enhance modeling accuracy and intelligence. In addition, uncertainty in trajectory prediction is considered by using multimodal trajectory prediction and Gaussian mixture model, and diversity and uncertainty are combined by combining trajectory prediction from several different modalities through probabilistic combinatorial sampling patterns. Test results indicate that the MCLG model, based on the multi-head attention module, outperforms existing methods in trajectory prediction. The decision module, which takes interactive information into account, exhibits higher predictability and accuracy. Furthermore, the MCLG model, considering the lane-changing decision module, significantly enhances trajectory prediction accuracy, providing robust decision-making support for autonomous driving systems.

Safe Hybrid-Action Reinforcement Learning-Based Decision and Control for Discretionary Lane Change

Autonomous lane-change, a key feature of advanced driver-assistance systems, can enhance traffic efficiency and reduce the incidence of accidents. However, safe driving of autonomous vehicles remains challenging in complex environments. How to perform safe and appropriate lane change is a popular topic of research in the field of autonomous driving. Currently, few papers consider the safety of reinforcement learning in discretionary lane-change scenarios. We introduce safe hybrid-action reinforcement learning into discretionary lane change for the first time and propose the Parameterized Soft Actor–Critic with PID Lagrangian (PASAC-PIDLag) algorithm. Furthermore, we conduct a comparative analysis with Parameterized Soft Actor–Critic (PASAC), which is an unsafe version of PASAC-PIDLag. Both algorithms are employed to train the lane-change strategy to output both discrete lane-change decisions and continuous longitudinal vehicle acceleration. Our simulation results indicate that at a traffic density of 15 vehicles per kilometer (15 veh/km), the PASAC-PIDLag algorithm exhibits superior safety with a collision rate of 0%, outperforming the PASAC algorithm, which has a collision rate of 1%. The generalization assessments reveal that at low traffic density levels, both the PASAC-PIDLag and PASAC algorithms are proficient in attaining zero collision rates. However, at high traffic density levels, although both algorithms result in collisions, PASAC-PIDLag has a much lower collision rate than PASAC.

Lane-changing decision and planning under humanized games for intelligent vehicles

Although autonomous driving vehicles have seen rapid development, their decision-making and planning technologies still fall short of meeting human-centric requirements. To address the issue of personalized driving within autonomous vehicles, a human-like autonomous driving framework is proposed. This framework divides the autonomous driving process into task decision-making and path planning. Firstly, during the modeling phase, a combined model of the driver and vehicle is integrated to form an integrated model for designing decision-making algorithms. Subsequently, a decision cost function is constructed during the decision phase to reflect driving safety, passenger comfort, and travel efficiency. Adjustments are made for different driving styles, employing non-cooperative game theory methods to resolve decision cost issues. Finally, an improved algorithm based on quintic polynomials is designed for trajectory planning to meet vehicle safety, comfort, and rapid operation requirements. Test results indicate that different driving styles lead to varying decision outcomes, yet the algorithms employed consistently provide reasonable decisions for autonomous driving vehicles, thereby enhancing road efficiency and safety.

Discretionary Lane-Change Decision and Control via Parameterized Soft Actor–Critic for Hybrid Action Space

This study focuses on a crucial task in the field of autonomous driving, autonomous lane change. Autonomous lane change plays a pivotal role in improving traffic flow, alleviating driver burden, and reducing the risk of traffic accidents. However, due to the complexity and uncertainty of lane-change scenarios, the functionality of autonomous lane change still faces challenges. In this research, we conducted autonomous lane-change simulations using both deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and model predictive control (MPC). Specifically, we used the parameterized soft actor–critic (PASAC) algorithm to train a DRL-based lane-change strategy to output both discrete lane-change decisions and continuous longitudinal vehicle acceleration. We also used MPC for lane selection based on the smallest predictive car-following costs for the different lanes. For the first time, we compared the performance of DRL and MPC in the context of lane-change decisions. The simulation results indicated that, under the same reward/cost function and traffic flow, both MPC and PASAC achieved a collision rate of 0%. PASAC demonstrated a comparable performance to MPC in terms of average rewards/costs and vehicle speeds.

Expressway lane change strategy of autonomous driving based on prior knowledge and data-driven

Automatic driving in expressways is generally considered to be the easiest for commercial landing, and vehicle behavior decision-making is the core of automatic driving technology, which directly affects the safety and comfort of vehicle driving. In this paper, an automatic lane change strategy based on prior knowledge and data-driven is proposed for expressway. Our method decouples autonomous driving decisions into two processes. Firstly, we propose an optimization model of lane change features based on prior knowledge, which not only provides a basis for the selection of vehicle features but also effectively reduces the interference of invalid features. The driving risk field is used to screen the vehicle targets that have potential influence on the lane change of the ego vehicle, and the maximal information coefficient evaluates the effectiveness of the features of the vehicle targets through the maximal information coefficient to optimize the lane change features. Then, a data-driven lane-changing model is proposed based on Attention-BiLSTM (Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory), which transforms vehicle lane-changing into time series prediction, fully explores the relationship between lane-changing features in the context information, and effectively improves the anti-interference ability of the system against accidental errors. In addition, the attention mechanism can adaptively adjust the weight of lane-changing features and effectively capture the important information that needs attention in different lane-changing states, further improving the accuracy of the model. Finally, the validity of the model is verified by remote sensing data sets and real vehicle experiments. The test results show that the test accuracy of our method is 95.1% in data sets and 94.2% in real vehicle experiments, which fully meets the requirements of lane change decisions about automatic driving.

Research on Lane-Changing Decision Making and Planning of Autonomous Vehicles Based on GCN and Multi-Segment Polynomial Curve Optimization.

This paper considers the interactive effects between the ego vehicle and other vehicles in a dynamic driving environment and proposes an autonomous vehicle lane-changing behavior decision-making and trajectory planning method based on graph convolutional networks (GCNs) and multi-segment polynomial curve optimization. Firstly, hierarchical modeling is applied to the dynamic driving environment, aggregating the dynamic interaction information of driving scenes in the form of graph-structured data. Graph convolutional neural networks are employed to process interaction information and generate ego vehicle's driving behavior decision commands. Subsequently, collision-free drivable areas are constructed based on the dynamic driving scene information. An optimization-based multi-segment polynomial curve trajectory planning method is employed to solve the optimization model, obtaining collision-free motion trajectories satisfying dynamic constraints and efficiently completing the lane-changing behavior of the vehicle. Finally, simulation and on-road vehicle experiments are conducted for the proposed method. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms traditional decision-making and planning methods, exhibiting good robustness, real-time performance, and strong scenario generalization capabilities.

Sustainable Smart Cities through Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning-Based Cooperative Autonomous Vehicles

As urban centers evolve into smart cities, sustainable mobility emerges as a cornerstone for ensuring environmental integrity and enhancing quality of life. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) play a pivotal role in this transformation, with the potential to significantly improve efficiency and safety, and reduce environmental impacts. This study introduces a novel Multi-Agent Actor–Critic (MA2C) algorithm tailored for multi-AV lane-changing in mixed-traffic scenarios, a critical component of intelligent transportation systems in smart cities. By incorporating a local reward system that values efficiency, safety, and passenger comfort, and a parameter-sharing scheme that encourages inter-agent collaboration, our MA2C algorithm presents a comprehensive approach to urban traffic management. The MA2C algorithm leverages reinforcement learning to optimize lane-changing decisions, ensuring optimal traffic flow and enhancing both environmental sustainability and urban living standards. The actor–critic architecture is refined to minimize variances in urban traffic conditions, enhancing predictability and safety. The study extends to simulating realistic human-driven vehicle (HDV) behavior using the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) and the model of Minimizing Overall Braking Induced by Lane changes (MOBIL), contributing to more accurate and effective traffic management strategies. Empirical results indicate that the MA2C algorithm outperforms existing state-of-the-art models in managing lane changes, passenger comfort, and inter-vehicle cooperation, essential for the dynamic environment of smart cities. The success of the MA2C algorithm in facilitating seamless interaction between AVs and HDVs holds promise for more fluid urban traffic conditions, reduced congestion, and lower emissions. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on autonomous driving within the framework of sustainable smart cities, focusing on the integration of AVs into the urban fabric. It underscores the potential of machine learning and artificial intelligence in developing transportation systems that are not only efficient and safe but also sustainable, supporting the broader goals of creating resilient, adaptive, and environmentally friendly urban spaces.

Research on lane-changing decision and control of autonomous vehicles based on game theory

Designing a secure and reliable decision-planning model for vehicle lane changing is of utmost practical significance because it is one of the most frequent driving behaviors and has a substantial impact on the safety of drivers’ lives and property. First, a Gaussian mixed Hidden Markov model (GMHMM) is trained for lane change intention recognition (LCIR), and the results reveal that the model has a great performance. This will simplify the game process and provide drivers and passengers with warnings. Second, the safety, efficiency, and comfort payoffs of vehicle lane changes are taken into account when building the game model. When building the safety payoff function, temporal collision risk and spatial collision risk of vehicles are two of them that are carefully taken into account. After that, the vehicle’s trajectory tracking control is decoupled into lateral LQR + feedforward control and longitudinal dual proportional integral derivative (PID) control based on the Frenet coordinate system. Finally, a vehicle lane change scenario is built for simulation analysis, and the effects of driving comfort factor and driving efficiency factor on lane change results are considered. The results show that the proposed game theory lane change model ensures lane change safety while satisfying human drivers’ requirements for lane change efficiency and comfort.

On-ramp Merging Strategy Integrating Dynamic Lane-changing Decision and Quasi-uniform B-spline Trajectory Optimization

On-ramp Merging Strategy Integrating Dynamic Lane-changing Decision and Quasi-uniform B-spline Trajectory Optimization

Study on Anthropomorphic Lane Changing Decision Making for Smart Trucks Based on Driving Behavior

In order to improve the applicability of the lane change decision model to different styles of drivers, especially for trucks with less flexibility and stability of their own, safe and reasonable lane change decisions are more important. In this paper, based on the research of integrating personalized driver styles in automatic lane change control technology, a vehicle lane change decision model considering driver styles is established. Firstly, the HighD dataset is screened and the drivers are classified by driving style using principal component analysis and K-means (K-means) cluster analysis. Secondly, we propose a lane change decision model that takes into account the rationality and safety of lane change by learning human drivers' driving behavior experience through Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method, so as to improve drivers' acceptance and satisfaction of smart cars. Finally, the joint simulation by Simulink/CarSim/PreScan software proves that the lane change decision method based on the driver's style proposed in this study can realize the autonomous lane change task of smart cars.