Communication-Free Distributed Control Algorithm For Autonomous Vehicles At Intersections

Alireza Soltani, David M. Levinson and Mohsen Ramezani
Additional contact information
Mohsen Ramezani: TransportLab, School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney

Working Papers from University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group

Abstract: This paper introduces a novel approach for managing autonomous vehicles at signal-free intersections through a Communication-free Distributed Control Algorithm (CfDCA). Unlike centralized systems or communication-based decentralized methods, CfDCA relies solely on onboard sensors and in-vehicle decision-making to ensure efficient and collision-free navigation. The algorithm formulates intersection management as a distributed optimization problem with demonstrated safety logics and robustness to measurement errors. The algorithm combines a dynamic resource acquisition graph with a refined priority function and an adaptive tolerance mechanism to ensure efficient performance under varying traffic conditions. A stochastic tiebreaking mechanism is proposed to handle rare cases of identical priorities, while deadlock prevention is guaranteed through strict priority ordering. Simulation experiments demonstrate that CfDCA reduces average delay and queue length and is able to achieve throughput higher than actuated signalized intersections and outperforms a first-come-first-served baseline in delay reduction. Additionally, the algorithm’s distributed design offers scalability and eliminates dependency on communication infrastructure.

Keywords: transportation; road transport; automated vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 180 105309

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2025.105309 Published version landing page, 2025 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nex:wpaper:paper-2025-10

DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2025.105309

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by David Levinson ().