22 research outputs found
Time-optimal Coordination of Mobile Robots along Specified Paths
In this paper, we address the problem of time-optimal coordination of mobile
robots under kinodynamic constraints along specified paths. We propose a novel
approach based on time discretization that leads to a mixed-integer linear
programming (MILP) formulation. This problem can be solved using
general-purpose MILP solvers in a reasonable time, resulting in a
resolution-optimal solution. Moreover, unlike previous work found in the
literature, our formulation allows an exact linear modeling (up to the
discretization resolution) of second-order dynamic constraints. Extensive
simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.Comment: Published in 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent
Robots and Systems (IROS
A Distributed Model Predictive Control Framework for Road-Following Formation Control of Car-like Vehicles (Extended Version)
This work presents a novel framework for the formation control of multiple
autonomous ground vehicles in an on-road environment. Unique challenges of this
problem lie in 1) the design of collision avoidance strategies with obstacles
and with other vehicles in a highly structured environment, 2) dynamic
reconfiguration of the formation to handle different task specifications. In
this paper, we design a local MPC-based tracking controller for each individual
vehicle to follow a reference trajectory while satisfying various constraints
(kinematics and dynamics, collision avoidance, \textit{etc.}). The reference
trajectory of a vehicle is computed from its leader's trajectory, based on a
pre-defined formation tree. We use logic rules to organize the collision
avoidance behaviors of member vehicles. Moreover, we propose a methodology to
safely reconfigure the formation on-the-fly. The proposed framework has been
validated using high-fidelity simulations.Comment: Extended version of the conference paper submission on ICARCV'1
Least Restrictive and Minimally Deviating Supervisor for Safe Semi-Autonomous Driving at an Intersection: An MIQP Approach
International audienceAlthough significant progress has been made in the last few years towards cooperative and autonomous driving, the transition from human-driven to fully automated vehicles is expected to happen slowly. The question of semi-autonomous driving, where Advanced Driver Assistance Systems assist human drivers in their decisions, will therefore become increasingly important. In this paper, we consider the problem of safe intersection crossing for semi-autonomous vehicles with communication capacities. We design an intersection supervisor based on a mixed-integer quadratic programming approach which monitors the control inputs of each vehicle, and overrides those controls when necessary to ensure that all vehicles can navigate safely. Moreover, the solution control deviates minimally from the vehicles target inputs: overriding only occurs when it is strictly necessary, in which case the control is chosen as close as possible to the driver's intent. We theoretically prove that the supervisor needs only consider a finite future time horizon to ensure safety and deadlock avoidance over an infinite time horizon, and we demonstrate through simulation that this algorithm can work in real time. Additionally, unlike previous work, our formulation is suitable for complex intersection geometries with a high number of vehicles
Optimal Trajectory Planning for Autonomous Driving Integrating Logical Constraints: An MIQP Perspective
International audienceThis paper considers the problem of optimal trajectory generation for autonomous driving under both continuous and logical constraints. Classical approaches based on continuous optimization formulate the trajectory generation problem as a nonlinear program, in which vehicle dynamics and obstacle avoidance requirements are enforced as nonlinear equality and inequality constraints. In general, gradient-based optimization methods are then used to find the optimal trajectory. However, these methods are ill-suited for logical constraints such as those raised by traffic rules, presence of obstacles and, more generally, to the existence of multiple maneuver variants. We propose a new formulation of the trajectory planning problem as a Mixed-Integer Quadratic Program. This formulation can be solved effectively using widely available solvers, and the resulting trajectory is guaranteed to be globally optimal. We apply our framework to several scenarios that are still widely considered as challenging for autonomous driving, such as obstacle avoidance with multiple maneuver choices, overtaking with oncoming traffic or optimal lane-change decision making. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach and its real-time applicability
Self-conditioned Embedding Diffusion for Text Generation
Can continuous diffusion models bring the same performance breakthrough on
natural language they did for image generation? To circumvent the discrete
nature of text data, we can simply project tokens in a continuous space of
embeddings, as is standard in language modeling. We propose Self-conditioned
Embedding Diffusion, a continuous diffusion mechanism that operates on token
embeddings and allows to learn flexible and scalable diffusion models for both
conditional and unconditional text generation. Through qualitative and
quantitative evaluation, we show that our text diffusion models generate
samples comparable with those produced by standard autoregressive language
models - while being in theory more efficient on accelerator hardware at
inference time. Our work paves the way for scaling up diffusion models for
text, similarly to autoregressive models, and for improving performance with
recent refinements to continuous diffusion.Comment: 15 page