Decentralized Optimal Control of Connected Automated Vehicles at Signal-Free Intersections Including Comfort-Constrained Turns and Safety Guarantees

Abstract: We extend earlier work for optimally controlling Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) crossing a signal-free intersection by including all possible turns taken so as to optimize a passenger comfort metric along with energy and travel time minimization. We show that it is possible to achieve this goal in a decentralized manner with each CAV solving an optimal control problem, and derive explicit solutions that guarantee collision avoidance and safe distance constraints within a control zone. We investigate the associated tradeoffs between minimizing energy and vehicle travel time, as well as the passenger comfort metric and include extensive simulations to illustrate this framework.