Virtual Obstacle for a Safe and Comfortable Approach to Limited Visibility Situations in Urban Autonomous Driving

Path planning algorithms for autonomous vehicles need to account for safety and comfort, more so, in scenarios where the possibility of casualties are higher due to increased traffic frequency and limited visibility. In this paper, we discuss the idea of a virtual obstacle deployed at occluded scenarios to avoid a potential collision or severe deceleration of the ego-vehicle. Urban scenarios like intersections, roundabout and merging are experimented. Results of simulating the integration of virtual obstacle with the trajectory planning algorithm, are analyzed in detail comparing speed and acceleration profiles.