Collision Avoidance of Driving Robotic Vehicles Based on Model Predictive Control with Improved APF

To enhance road-testing safety for autonomous driving robotic vehicles (ADRVs), collision avoidance with sudden obstacles is essential during testing processes. This paper proposes an upper-level collision avoidance strategy integrating model predictive control (MPC) and improved artificial potential field (APF). The kinematic model of the driving robot is established, and a vehicle dynamics model considering road curvature is used as the foundation for vehicle control. The improved APF constraints are constructed. The boundary constraint uses a three-circle vehicle shape suitable for roads with arbitrary curvatures. A unified obstacle potential field constraint is designed for static/dynamic obstacles to generate collision-free trajectories. An auxiliary attractive potential field is designed to ensure stable trajectory recovery after obstacle avoidance completion. A multi-objective MPC framework coupled with artificial potential fields is designed to achieve obstacle avoidance and trajectory tracking while ensuring accuracy, comfort, and environmental constraints. Results from Carsim-Simulink and semi-physical experiments validate that the proposed strategy effectively avoids various obstacles under different road conditions while maintaining reference trajectory tracking.