Model Predictive Control Method for Autonomous Vehicles in Roundabouts

This paper introduces a procedure for controlling autonomous vehicles entering roundabouts. The aim of the centralized controller is to define the velocity profile of each autonomous vehicle by which collisions can be avoided and traveling times can be minimized. To achieve these performances, a model predictive control is introduced based on the solution of an analytical calculation of traveling times spent in the roundabout and designing the autonomous vehicles' velocity profiles in order to avoid conflict situations while ensuring a time-optimal solution. By the application of the proposed procedure, safety of autonomous vehicles can be enhanced and the possibility of a forming congestion can be minimized. The operation of the proposed method is demonstrated by a few simulation examples in the CarSim simulation environment.