This work examines the role of reinforcement learning in reducing the severity of on-road collisions by controlling velocity and steering in situations in which contact is imminent. We construct a model, given camera images as input, that is capable of learning and predicting the dynamics of obstacles, cars and pedestrians, and train our policy using this model. Two policies that control both braking and steering are compared against a baseline where the only action taken is (conventional) braking in a straight line. The two policies are trained using two distinct reward structures, one where any and all collisions incur a fixed penalty, and a second one where the penalty is calculated based on already established delta-v models of injury severity. The results show that both policies exceed the performance of the baseline, with the policy trained using injury models having the highest performance.
A system capable of early detecting a pedestrian’s intention of crossing the road and performing an evasive maneuver if avoidance by braking is impossible is presented in @cite_13 . However, they rely on the existence of a Road Side Unit placed in dangerous road spots in order to detect pedestrian intention and send this information to the On Board Unit placed in the vehicle.
@cite_13
2010256323
We present an active pedestrian protection system that performs an autonomous lane-keeping evasive maneuver in urban traffic scenarios when collision avoidance by braking is no longer possible. The system focuses on pedestrians standing at the curb and intending to cross the street despite an approaching car. It is demonstrated that the evasive maneuver of the car can be initiated before the pedestrian's foot hits the lane, by means of video-based motion contour histograms of oriented gradients and stationary detection. Using clothoid-based real-time trajectory planning and a lateral control of the car, combining feedforward and feedback control, the difference between the driven and the calculated trajectories is kept below 10 cm at maximum lateral accelerations of 4 ms-2 and -5 ms-2. We present the technical realization of the system and its precision with respect to intention recognition and driven trajectories. A case study showed that the system reacted faster than human drivers in five out of 11 cases, with an average time gain of 214 ms, even though the drivers were able to pay the utmost attention to the behavior of the crossing pedestrian.