A two-layer switching based trajectory prediction method

Safety-critical situations in road traffic often result from incorrect estimation of the future behavior of other road users. Therefore, many Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) need prediction models to ensure safety. Physical prediction models offer the advantage of general use and work quite well for short prediction horizons, while for longer periods of time, maneuver-based models offer better performance which, however, strongly depends on the data used to train them. An additional challenge for prediction is the fact that the surrounding traffic can change its path, i.e. for safety not only one maneuver should be considered but regular updates are required. Against this background, we propose a method that uses three physics-based predictions – corresponding to different prediction assumptions and models – combined with possible maneuver-based trajectories derived from environmental knowledge. Continuous monitoring is used to select the most likely of the three physics-based models. This choice then influences the environment-based prediction and the output of both models is fused afterwards. The output of the resulting Multiple Model Trajectory Prediction (MMTP) has been validated with measured data from two different scenarios – a city junction and a highway – with a good prediction performance and without the need for special measurements as commonly required for maneuver-based prediction.