Physics of microscopic vehicular traffic prediction for automated driving

With the use of microscopic traffic simulations, physical features of microscopic traffic prediction for automated driving that should improve traffic harmonization and safety have been found: During a short-time prediction horizon (about 10 s), online prediction of the locations and speeds of all vehicles in some limited area around the automated-driving vehicle is possible; this enables the automated vehicle control in complex traffic situations in which the automated-driving vehicle is not able to make a decision based on current traffic information without the use of the microscopic traffic prediction. Through a more detailed analysis of an unsignalized city intersection, when the automated vehicle wants to turn right from a secondary road onto the priority road, the statistical physics of the effect of a data uncertainty caused by errors in data measurements on the prediction reliability has been studied: (i) probability of the prediction reliability has been found; (ii) there is a critical uncertainty, i.e., a maximum amplitude of errors in data measurements: when the uncertainty does not exceed the critical uncertainty, the prediction reliability probability is equal to 1, otherwise, the prediction is not applicable for a reliable automated vehicle control; (iii) physical characteristics of the microscopic traffic prediction, at which the critical uncertainty can be increased considerably, have been found; and (iv) there is an optimal automated vehicle control at which the critical uncertainty reaches a maximum value.