Real time path planning for threat assessment and collision avoidance by steering

Auto-brake systems have been on the market for a few years, but in order to continue improving their performance, multi-target threat assessment is a key component. The goal is to trigger braking as soon as possible, but only if necessary, by detecting when a collision can no longer be avoided via steering. This is done by looking at all objects in the road scene, including other vehicles and barriers, and then looking for escape paths. The paper presents an extension of previous work in this area where escape paths are found in a scenario with generally positioned objects. The escape paths are parametrized in a smooth way that is suitable for both threat assessment, i.e., finding the driver's options in a given situation, and for planning and controlling the vehicle laterally.