System and method for connected vehicle lane merge

A method of controlling a merge maneuver for an ego vehicle, comprising:

• generating sensor data that indicate a detected vehicle in an environment of the ego vehicle;
• determining whether the ego vehicle is in a merge lane or a mainline, the merge lane being a lane that ends by merging into another lane, the mainline being the other lane into which the merge lane merges;
• identifying a conflict based at least in part on the sensor data indicating that the detected vehicle and the ego vehicle are traveling:
• 1) in adjacent lanes that will merge into a single lane, and 2) at respective speeds that will result in the detected vehicle entering within a threshold range of the ego vehicle;
• determining, upon identification of the conflict, merge position assignments for the ego vehicle and the detected vehicle based at least in part on a game theory cost function applied to game theory actions that result in the merge position assignments exclusively being either a lead vehicle or a follower vehicle, wherein, in response to:
• the ego vehicle being in the merge lane, the game theory cost function is a merge lane game theory cost function;
• and
• the ego vehicle being in the mainline, the game theory cost function is a mainline game theory cost function;
• and
• outputting an acceleration rate to achieve a merge position assignment, of the merge position assignments, for the ego vehicle.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for controlling a merge maneuver for an ego vehicle, including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

• obtain sensor data that indicate a detected vehicle in an environment of the ego vehicle;
• determine whether the ego vehicle is in a merge lane or a mainline, the merge lane being a lane that ends by merging into another lane, the mainline being the other lane into which the merge lane merges;
• identify a conflict based at least in part on the sensor data indicating that the detected vehicle and the ego vehicle are traveling:
• 1) in adjacent lanes that will merge into a single lane, and 2) at respective speeds that will result in the detected vehicle entering within a threshold range of the ego vehicle;
• determine, upon identification of the conflict, merge position assignments for the ego vehicle and the detected vehicle based at least in part on a game theory cost function applied to game theory actions that result in the merge position assignments exclusively being either a lead vehicle or a follower vehicle, wherein, in response to:
• the ego vehicle being in the merge lane, the game theory cost function is a merge lane game theory cost function;
• and
• the ego vehicle being in the mainline, the game theory cost function is a mainline game theory cost function;
• and
• output an acceleration rate to achieve a merge position assignment, of the merge position assignments, for the ego vehicle.