Effect of Autonomous Vehicles on Various Sight Distance Requirements

The majority of research on autonomous vehicle technology these days focuses on car technology, with little emphasis on road infrastructure, such as geometric design. The goal of this research project is to bridge this gap and make the geometric road design for autonomous vehicles sustainable, especially focusing on sight distance requirements which play a critical role in roadway safety. The stopping sight distance model is frequently used in road geometrics because it offers enough time to avoid accidents and is efficient. The stopping sight design model is implemented in this study effort for autonomous vehicle technology. To start, the autonomous vehicle technology is investigated, and a substantial difference between autonomous vehicle technology and human-driven vehicle technology is determined in order to use the stopping sight distance model. A literature review is also conducted for the geometric design of the road for both human-driven and self-driving vehicles. For the autonomous vehicle, the AASHTO model developed for human-driven vehicles is applied and adapted, resulting in the optimal geometric design for the autonomous vehicle. Additionally, a simulation model is designed in Matlab to test different configurations for the placement of LiDAR sensor on autonomous vehicles in specific scenarios that are critical to roadway safety such as when there is an overpass over a vertical sag curve.