A conventional bicycle is a stable system given adequate forward velocity. However, the velocity region of stability is limited and depends on the geometric parameters of the bicycle. An autonomous bicycle is just not about maintaining the balance but also controlling where the bicycle is heading. Following paths has been accomplished with bicycles and motorcycles in simulation for a while. Car-like vehicles have followed paths in the real world but few bicycles or motorcycles have done so. The goal of this work is to follow a planned path using a physical bicycle without overcoming the dynamic limitations of the bicycle. Using an iterative design process, controllers for direction and position are developed and improved. Kinematic models are also compared in their ability to simulate the bicycle movement and how controllers in simulation translate to outdoors driving. The result shows that the bicycle can follow a turning path on a residential road without human interaction and that some simulation behaviours do not translate to the real world.

This degree project investigates the suitability of using Behavior Trees (BT) as an architecture for the behavioral layer in autonomous driving. BTs originate from video game development but have received attention in robotics research the past couple of years. This project also includes implementation of a simulated traffic environment using the Unity3D engine, where the use of BTs is evaluated and compared to an implementation using finite-state machines (FSM). After the initial implementation, the simulation along with the control architectures were extended with additional behaviors in four steps. The different versions were evaluated using software maintainability metrics (Cyclomatic complexity and Maintainability index) in order to extrapolate and reason about more complex implementations as would be required in a real autonomous vehicle. It is concluded that as the AI requirements scale and grow more complex, the BTs likely become substantially more maintainable than FSMs and hence may prove a viable alternative for autonomous driving.

<p>Unsafe lane changes have been identified as a common factor in motor vehicle accidents. It would be helpful, particularly for automated vehicles, to know if there are behaviors of vehicles, beyond a directional signal, or characteristics of the traffic environment that correlated with a higher probability of an unsafe lane change (lane changes without a directional signal). This work investigates what the observable cues are that drivers use to determine the relative safety when overtaking front vehicles, and if drivers make more lane changes under certain conditions on highways. This study utilizes interviews, surveys, 3D animation software, and highway driving public footage for data collection and experiments. It is found that a side-to-side motion of the front vehicle or a factor that might trigger a side-to-side motion of the front vehicle in the environment is the key marker that indicates a possible unsafe lane change, and it is also found that traffic speed, time of day, traffic flow, and a combination of traffic density & number of lanes & vehicle count all have effects on drive’s decision on making lane changes on different levels.</p>

abstract: Autonomous vehicle technology has been evolving for years since the Automated Highway System Project. However, this technology has been under increased scrutiny ever since an autonomous vehicle killed Elaine Herzberg, who was crossing the street in Tempe, Arizona in March 2018. Recent tests of autonomous vehicles on public roads have faced opposition from nearby residents. Before these vehicles are widely deployed, it is imperative that the general public trusts them. For this, the vehicles must be able to identify objects in their surroundings and demonstrate the ability to follow traffic rules while making decisions with human-like moral integrity when confronted with an ethical dilemma, such as an unavoidable crash that will injure either a pedestrian or the passenger. Testing autonomous vehicles in real-world scenarios would pose a threat to people and property alike. A safe alternative is to simulate these scenarios and test to ensure that the resulting programs can work in real-world scenarios. Moreover, in order to detect a moral dilemma situation quickly, the vehicle should be able to identify objects in real-time while driving. Toward this end, this thesis investigates the use of cross-platform training for neural networks that perform visual identification of common objects in driving scenarios. Here, the object detection algorithm Faster R-CNN is used. The hypothesis is that it is possible to train a neural network model to detect objects from two different domains, simulated or physical, using transfer learning. As a proof of concept, an object detection model is trained on image datasets extracted from CARLA, a virtual driving environment, via transfer learning. After bringing the total loss factor to 0.4, the model is evaluated with an IoU metric. It is determined that the model has a precision of 100% and 75% for vehicles and traffic lights respectively. The recall is found to be 84.62% and 75% for the same. It is also shown that this model can detect the same classes of objects from other virtual environments and real-world images. Further modifications to the algorithm that may be required to improve performance are discussed as future work. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2019

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis addresses a critical issue of automotive safety. As traffic is increasing on the roads day by day, road safety is also a very important concern. Driving simulators can play an extensive role in the development and testing of advanced safety systems in peculiar traffic environments, respectively. Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) are getting enormous reputation but there is still need for more improvements. This thesis presents a design of an Automatic Emergency Pullover (AEP) strategy using active safety systems for a semi-autonomous vehicle. The idea for this system is that a moving vehicle equipped with an AEP system can automatically pull over on the roadside safely when the driver is considered incapable of driving. Furthermore, AEP supporting features such as; Lane Keeping Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring, Vehicle and Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking, Adaptive Cruise Control are also included in this work. The designs for application of each system have been explained along with its algorithms, model development, component architecture, simulation results, vehicular/pedestrian behavior and trajectory precision on software tools provided by Realtime Technologies, Inc. All major variables which influence the performance of vehicle after AEP activation, have been observed and remodeled according to control algorithms. The implementation of AEP system which can control vehicle dynamics has been verified with the help of simulation results.

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Autonomous vehicles will help society if they can easily support a broad range of driving environments, conditions, and vehicles. Achieving this requires reducing the complexity of the algorithmic system, easing the collection of training data, and verifying operation using real-world experiments. Our work addresses these issues by utilizing a reflexive neural network that translates images into steering and throttle commands. This network is trained using simulation data from Grand Theft Auto V~\cite{gtav}, which we augment to reduce the number of simulation hours driven. We then validate our work using a RC car system through numerous tests. Our system successfully drive 98 of 100 laps of a track with multiple road types and difficult turns; it also successfully avoids collisions with another vehicle in 90\% of the trials.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to discover how an articulated vehicle can park itself using a pre-defined parking path with a combination of ultrasonic sensors as well as a rotary angle sensor. The project was divided into two parts: constructing a small scale demonstrator and the software controlling the demonstrator. The demonstrator was constructed from offthe- shelf components and custom parts. The truck was designed based on a rear wheel driven truck with Ackermann steering. The localization of a parking spot and measuring other distances was done with ultrasonic sensors and the hitch angle was measured by a rotary angle sensor. The performance of the demonstrator was evaluated by measuring the trailers angle difference from the center line of the parking spot. The performance was deemed to be reasonably good with successful parkings in 8 out of 10 attempts. / Kandidatarbetet syftar till att undersöka hur ett ledat fordon kan parkera sig självt efter en förbestämd parkeringsrutt med en kombination av flera ultraljudssensorer samt en vinkelgivare. Projektet består av två delar; konstruktion av ett miniatyrfordon samt mjukvaran som styr fordonet. Fordonet tillverkades från butiksköpta komponenter och skräddarsydda delar. Lastbilens design var baserad på en bakhjulsdriven Ackermannstyrd lastbil. Identifieringen av en parkeringsplats samt avståndsmätning hanterades av ultraljudssensorer och hitch vinkeln mättes av en vinkelgivare. Miniatyrfordonets prestanda utvärderades genom att mäta släpets vinkelskillnad från centerlinjen av parkeringsplatsen. Prestandan ansågs att vara tillräckligt god med lyckade parkeringar i 8 av 10 tester.

Automated vehicles are those which are capable of sensing their environments in order to perform at least some aspects of the safety-critical control (like steering, throttling, or braking) without direct human input. As a guide for planners and policymakers, the objective of this thesis is to develop a strong foundation for anticipating the potential impacts resulting from advancements in vehicle automation. To establish the foundation, this thesis uses a robust qualitative methodology, coupling a review of literature on the potential advantages and disadvantages of vehicle automation and lessons from past innovations in transportation, with recent trends of the Millennial Generation, carsharing services, and a series of interviews with thought-leaders in automation, planning, policymaking, transportation, and aviation. Five significant findings emerged from this thesis: (1) the impacts of vehicle automation differ depending on one’s visions of what automation means, how it is implemented, what the automation does, and where it operates; (2) current limitations of vehicle automation to perform all aspects of the dynamic driving task in all driving conditions make it difficult to move from level-4 to level-5 automation; (3) level-5 automation is required to have any effect on carsharing, mobility, and quality of life; (4) assuming effective planning and policymaking techniques, housing preferences, urban growth, and increases in total VMT will likely not be significantly impacted by vehicle automation; (5) human drivers may never be allowed to disengage their attention from a partially-automated vehicle, specifically in applications where drivers are expected to reengage their attention in safety-critical situations. From the perspective of understanding the bigger picture, this thesis developed a proposed future scenario of vehicle automation in the next five to ten years that is used to suggest guiding principles for policymakers, and key recommendations for planners, engineers, and researchers.

No description available.