A Trajectory Optimization Strategy for Merging Maneuvers of Autonomous Vehicles

In this paper we address the merging problem for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) in presence of moving obstacles. The AV is required to follow a given desired path with a nominal (path-dependent) velocity profile, while keeping a desired safe distance with respect to moving obstacles. By using a new set of coordinates and a Virtual Target Vehicle (VTV) perspective, we propose a trajectory generation strategy to compute the (local) optimal collision-free trajectory that best approximates the desired one. In the proposed strategy, we exploit the extra degree of freedom of the VTV in order to generate a time parametrized reference, which helps to find the right space-time gap to perform a safe merging maneuver. We show the efficacy of the proposed strategy through a set of numerical computations and highlighting the main features of the generated trajectories.