A Game Lane Changing Model Considering Driver’s Risk Level in Ramp Merging Scenario

Abstract

A ramp merging decision as an important part of the lane change model plays a crucial role in the efficiency and safety of the entire merging process. However, due to the inevitability of on-ramp merging, the limitations of the road environment, and the conflict between the merging vehicle and the following vehicle on the main road, it is difficult for human drivers to make optimal decisions in complex merging scenarios. First, based on the NGSIM dataset, a gain function is designed to represent the interaction between the ego vehicle (EV) and the surrounding vehicles, and the gain value is then used as one of the characteristic parameters. The K-means algorithm is employed to conduct a cluster analysis of the driving style under the condition of changing lanes. This paper models the interaction and conflict between the ego vehicle (vehicle merging) and the mainline lagging vehicle as a complete information non-cooperative game process. Further, various driving styles are coupled in the ramp decision model to mimic the different safety and travel efficiency preferences of human drivers. After EV decision-making, a quintic polynomial method with multi-constraints is proposed to implement merging trajectory planning. The proposed algorithm is tested and analyzed in an on-ramp scenario, and the results demonstrate that drivers with different driving styles can make correct decisions and complete the ramp merging. The changing trend of the speed and trajectory tests are also in line with the features of the driver’s driving style, offering a theoretical foundation for individualized on-ramp merging decisions.