A Safety Fallback Controller for Improved Collision Avoidance

Abstract

We present an implementation of a formally verified safety fallback controller for improved collision avoidance in an autonomous vehicle research platform. Our approach uses a primary trajectory planning system that aims for collision-free navigation in the presence of pedestrians and other vehicles, and a fallback controller that guards its behavior. The safety fallback controller excludes the possibility of collisions by accounting for nondeterministic uncertainty in the dynamics of the vehicle and moving obstacles, and takes over the primary controller as necessary. We demonstrate the system in an experimental set-up that includes simulations and real-world tests with a 1/5-scale vehicle. In stressing simulation scenarios, the safety fallback controller significantly reduces the number of collisions.