Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios

Lane changing is common in driving. Thus, the possibility of traffic accidents occurring during lane changes is high given the complexity of this process. One of the primary objectives of intelligent driving is to increase a vehicle’s behavior, making it more similar to that of a real driver. This s...

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Main Authors: Ling Han, Xiangyu Ma, Yiren Wang, Lei He, Yipeng Li, Lele Zhang, Qiang Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tsinghua University Press 2025-03-01
Series:Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles
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Online Access:https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/JICV.2024.9210054
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author Ling Han
Xiangyu Ma
Yiren Wang
Lei He
Yipeng Li
Lele Zhang
Qiang Yi
author_facet Ling Han
Xiangyu Ma
Yiren Wang
Lei He
Yipeng Li
Lele Zhang
Qiang Yi
author_sort Ling Han
collection DOAJ
description Lane changing is common in driving. Thus, the possibility of traffic accidents occurring during lane changes is high given the complexity of this process. One of the primary objectives of intelligent driving is to increase a vehicle’s behavior, making it more similar to that of a real driver. This study proposes a decision-making framework based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in a lane-changing scenario, which seeks to find a driving strategy that simultaneously considers the expected lane-changing risks and gains. First, a fuzzy logic lane-changing controller is designed. It outputs the corresponding safety and lane-change gain weights by inputting relevant driving parameters. Second, the obtained weights are brought into the constructed reward function of DRL. The model parameters are designed and trained on the basis of lane-changing behavior. Finally, we conducted experiments in a simulator to evaluate the performance of our developed algorithm in urban scenarios. To visualize and validate the estimated driving intentions, lane-changing strategies were tested under four scenarios. The results show that the average improvement in travel efficiency in the four scenarios is 19%. In addition, the average accident rate in the four scenarios increased by only 4%. We combine fuzzy logic and DRL reward functions to personify the lane-changing behavior of intelligent driving. Compared with conservative strategies that prioritize only safety, this method can considerably improve the number of lane changes and travel efficiency for autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the premise of ensuring safety. The approach provides an effective and explainable method designed for facilitating intelligent driving lane-changing behavior.
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spelling doaj-art-d0784d1b71b3438b81cfe8d166b9bad32025-08-20T02:30:18ZengTsinghua University PressJournal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles2399-98022025-03-0181921005410.26599/JICV.2024.9210054Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenariosLing Han0Xiangyu Ma1Yiren Wang2Lei He3Yipeng Li4Lele Zhang5Qiang Yi6School of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, ChinaSchool of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, ChinaSchool of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, ChinaSchool of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, ChinaSchool of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, ChinaManagement Institute of Ministry of Transport, Beijing 100000, ChinaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis 46202, USALane changing is common in driving. Thus, the possibility of traffic accidents occurring during lane changes is high given the complexity of this process. One of the primary objectives of intelligent driving is to increase a vehicle’s behavior, making it more similar to that of a real driver. This study proposes a decision-making framework based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in a lane-changing scenario, which seeks to find a driving strategy that simultaneously considers the expected lane-changing risks and gains. First, a fuzzy logic lane-changing controller is designed. It outputs the corresponding safety and lane-change gain weights by inputting relevant driving parameters. Second, the obtained weights are brought into the constructed reward function of DRL. The model parameters are designed and trained on the basis of lane-changing behavior. Finally, we conducted experiments in a simulator to evaluate the performance of our developed algorithm in urban scenarios. To visualize and validate the estimated driving intentions, lane-changing strategies were tested under four scenarios. The results show that the average improvement in travel efficiency in the four scenarios is 19%. In addition, the average accident rate in the four scenarios increased by only 4%. We combine fuzzy logic and DRL reward functions to personify the lane-changing behavior of intelligent driving. Compared with conservative strategies that prioritize only safety, this method can considerably improve the number of lane changes and travel efficiency for autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the premise of ensuring safety. The approach provides an effective and explainable method designed for facilitating intelligent driving lane-changing behavior.https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/JICV.2024.9210054autonomous vehicles (avs)decision-makingfuzzy logiclane changereinforcement learning
spellingShingle Ling Han
Xiangyu Ma
Yiren Wang
Lei He
Yipeng Li
Lele Zhang
Qiang Yi
Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles
autonomous vehicles (avs)
decision-making
fuzzy logic
lane change
reinforcement learning
title Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
title_full Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
title_fullStr Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
title_full_unstemmed Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
title_short Safe and efficient DRL driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
title_sort safe and efficient drl driving policies using fuzzy logic for urban lane changing scenarios
topic autonomous vehicles (avs)
decision-making
fuzzy logic
lane change
reinforcement learning
url https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/JICV.2024.9210054
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AT yirenwang safeandefficientdrldrivingpoliciesusingfuzzylogicforurbanlanechangingscenarios
AT leihe safeandefficientdrldrivingpoliciesusingfuzzylogicforurbanlanechangingscenarios
AT yipengli safeandefficientdrldrivingpoliciesusingfuzzylogicforurbanlanechangingscenarios
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