Enhancing Game-Theoretic Autonomous Car Racing Using Control Barrier Functions

In this paper, we consider a two-player racing game, where an autonomous ego vehicle has to be controlled to race against an opponent vehicle, which is either autonomous or human-driven. The approach to control the ego vehicle is based on a Sensitivity-ENhanced NAsh equilibrium seeking (SENNA) method, which uses an iterated best response algorithm in order to optimize for a trajectory in a two-car racing game. This method exploits the interactions between the ego and the opponent vehicle that take place through a collision avoidance constraint. This game-theoretic control method hinges on the ego vehicle having an accurate model and correct knowledge of the state of the opponent vehicle. However, when an accurate model for the opponent vehicle is not available, or the estimation of its state is corrupted by noise, the performance of the approach might be compromised. For this reason, we augment the SENNA algorithm by enforcing Permissive RObust SafeTy (PROST) conditions using control barrier functions. The objective is to successfully overtake or to remain in the front of the opponent vehicle, even when the information about the latter is not fully available. The successful synergy between SENNA and PROST-antithetical to the notable rivalry between the two namesake Formula 1 drivers-is demonstrated through extensive simulated experiments.