Simulation and Model Checking for Close to Real-time Overtaking Planning

Pagojus, D., Miller, A. , Porr, B. and Valkov, I. (2021) Simulation and Model Checking for Close to Real-time Overtaking Planning. In: Third Workshop on Formal Methods for Autonomous Systems (FMAS2021), 21-22 Oct 2021, pp. 20-37. (doi: 10.4204/EPTCS.348.2)

Abstract

Fast and reliable trajectory planning is a key requirement of autonomous vehicles. In this paper we introduce a novel technique for planning the route of an autonomous vehicle on a straight rural road using the Spin model checker. We show how we can combine Spins ability to identify paths violating temporal properties with sensor information from a 3D Unity simulation of an autonomous vehicle, to plan and perform consecutive overtaking manoeuvres on a traffic heavy road. This involves discretising the sensory information and combining multiple sequential Spin models with a Linear Time Temporal Logic specification to generate an error path. This path provides the autonomous vehicle with an action plan. The entire process takes place in close to realtime using no precomputed data and the action plan is specifically tailored for individual scenarios. Our experiments demonstrate that the simulated autonomous vehicle implementing our approach can drive on average at least 40km and overtake 214 vehicles before experiencing a collision, which is usually caused by inaccuracies in the sensory system. While the proposed system has some drawbacks, we believe that our novel approach demonstrates a potentially powerful future tool for efficient trajectory planning for autonomous vehicles.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Valkov, Mr Ivaylo and Porr, Dr Bernd and Miller, Professor Alice
• Authors: Pagojus, D., Miller, A., Porr, B., and Valkov, I.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISSN: 2075-2180
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © D. Pagojus, A. Miller, B. Porr and I. Valkov
• First Published: First published in Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science 348:20–37

Related URLs

• Organisation

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
311600		UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Node in Governance and Regulation	Alice Miller	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/V026607/1	Computing Science
172422		Science of Sensor System Software (SSSS)	Muffy Calder	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/N007565/1	Computing Science