A Closed-Form Analytical Solution for Optimal Coordination of Connected and Automated Vehicles

Abstract: In earlier work, a decentralized optimal control framework was established for coordinating online connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in merging roadways, urban intersections, speed reduction zones, and roundabouts. The dynamics of each vehicle were represented by a double integrator and the Hamiltonian analysis was applied to derive an analytical solution that minimizes the L2-norm of the control input. However, the analytical solution did not consider the rear-end collision avoidance constraint. In this paper, we derive a complete, closed-form analytical solution that includes the rear-end safety constraint in addition to the state and control constraints. We augment the double integrator model that represents a vehicle with an additional state corresponding to the distance from its preceding vehicle. Thus, the rear-end collision avoidance constraint is included as a state constraint. The effectiveness of the solution is illustrated through simulation.