EnduRL: Enhancing Safety, Stability, and Efficiency of Mixed Traffic Under Real-World Perturbations Via Reinforcement Learning

Основні поняття

Reinforcement learning improves safety, efficiency, and stability in mixed traffic.

Анотація

The article discusses the challenges of congestion in traffic due to human-driven vehicles and how Robot Vehicles (RVs) can mitigate these issues. It introduces EnduRL, a framework that incorporates real-world driving profiles into simulations to train RVs using reinforcement learning. The study evaluates safety, efficiency, and stability in two mixed traffic environments (Ring and Bottleneck) at various penetration rates. Results show significant improvements in safety by up to 66%, efficiency by up to 54%, and stability by up to 97% under real-world perturbations.
I. INTRODUCTION

Human-driven vehicles amplify traffic perturbations.
Robot Vehicles (RVs) can mitigate congestion.
EnduRL uses real-world driving profiles for RV training.
II. RELATED WORK

Various control strategies for mixed traffic have been proposed.
Model-based, heuristic-based, and learning-based RVs are evaluated.
EnduRL leverages reinforcement learning for improved performance.
III. METHODOLOGY

Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) assumptions explained.
Sampling real-world perturbations for simulation accuracy.
Reinforcement Learning with Congestion Stage Classifier detailed.
IV. EXPERIMENTS

Evaluation metrics include TTC, DRAC, FE, throughput, CAV, WAR.
Results show improvements in safety, efficiency, and stability.
Comparison with existing RV controllers presented.
V. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

EnduRL enhances safety, efficiency, and stability in mixed traffic.
Practical solution without costly infrastructure upgrades.
Future directions include lane-changing dynamics and vehicle types.

Статистика

"Results show that under real-world perturbations...efficiency by up to 54%, and stability by up to 97%."
"Our results show that in Ring...our RV improves both safety and efficiency by up to 54%, and stability by up to 97%."
"Our evaluation metrics include the following...wave attenuation."
"Compared to RL + L...For Ours (20%), multiple follower RVs closely track the leader RV."

Цитати

"In contrast, RVs attenuate the standard perturbation of the leader HV..."
"No other studies impose no artificial approximation or bounds..."
"Our approach offers a practical solution because it solely relies on observations of individual RVs."

Ключові висновки, отримані з

EnduRL

by Bibek Poudel... о arxiv.org 03-26-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.12261.pdf

Глибші Запити

How can the findings of this study be applied practically in urban transportation planning?

The findings of this study offer valuable insights into enhancing safety, efficiency, and stability in mixed traffic environments through the use of Robot Vehicles (RVs). Practically, these findings can be applied in urban transportation planning by:

Implementing reinforcement learning-based RV controllers: The study demonstrates significant improvements in safety, efficiency, and stability using a reinforcement learning approach. Urban planners can leverage this technology to optimize traffic flow and reduce congestion.
Incorporating real-world driving profiles: By incorporating real-world driving behaviors into simulations for training RVs, planners can better account for aggressive accelerations and decelerations that are common on roads but often not captured accurately in traditional models.
Utilizing Congestion Stage Classifier (CSC): The use of CSC to predict congestion stages allows RVs to take preemptive actions to improve traffic conditions. This proactive approach can help prevent congestion before it escalates.

What potential drawbacks or criticisms could arise from relying solely on observations of individual RVs?

While relying solely on observations of individual RVs offers several benefits, there are potential drawbacks and criticisms that could arise:

Limited system-wide coordination: Individual RV observations may lack the ability to coordinate effectively with other vehicles or infrastructure systems without a centralized communication network.
Vulnerability to localized disruptions: In scenarios where individual RVs operate independently based on local observations, there may be challenges in responding effectively to sudden changes or disturbances that affect multiple vehicles simultaneously.
Lack of holistic optimization: Without considering broader system dynamics or global traffic patterns, focusing only on individual vehicle observations may lead to suboptimal overall performance and limited scalability.

How might advancements in communication technologies impact the effectiveness of reinforcement learning-based traffic control systems?

Advancements in communication technologies have the potential to significantly impact the effectiveness of reinforcement learning-based traffic control systems by:

Enabling vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication: V2V communication allows vehicles equipped with sensors and transmitters to share real-time data about their surroundings, improving coordination between vehicles and enhancing overall system efficiency.
Facilitating infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication: I2V communication enables interactions between vehicles and roadside infrastructure such as traffic lights or road sensors, providing additional information for decision-making algorithms used by RV controllers.
Enhancing predictive capabilities: Advanced communications technologies like 5G networks can provide faster data transmission rates and lower latency, allowing RL-based systems to make more accurate predictions about future traffic conditions based on real-time data feeds.