Guidance-based on-line motion planning for autonomous highway overtaking

In the context of intelligent transportation, this Thesis presents a novel on-line trajectory-generation method for autonomous highway overtaking. The focus of this Thesis has been on two autonomy aspects of overtaking manoeuvre: (i) time optimal overtaking in the possible presence of obstacle vehicles in the passing lane, while ensuring passenger comfort, and (ii) ensuring that a safety distance is always maintained between vehicles in order to avoid any collision. The proposed scheme is guidance based, real-time applicable, and ensures safety and passenger ride comfort.;The guidance principle is also used to prevent any potential collision with these obstacle vehicles. The proposed method can be used as a fully autonomous system or simply as a driver-assistance tool. The proposed method was implemented in both computer simulations and experiments. The results clearly demonstrate the tangible efficiency of the proposed method.;The propose methodology is based on the principles of Rendezvous Guidance, the passing vehicle is guided in real-time to match the position and velocity of a shadow target (i.e., rendezvous with) during the overtaking manoeuvre. The shadow target's position and velocity are generated based on real-time sensory information gathered about the slower vehicle ahead of the passing vehicle as well as other vehicles which may be travelling in the passing lane.