Lane split decision techniques for vehicle lateral control path planning

A lane split decision method for lateral control path planning for a vehicle when encountering a lane split scenario where a selection of one of two different lanes is necessary, the method comprising:

• determining, by a driver intent determination system of the vehicle, a driver intent for which of the two different lanes the driver intends the vehicle to follow during the lane split scenario and after a lane split point based on a turn signal status, steering torque, and navigational data;
• operating, by a controller of the vehicle, the vehicle according to an autonomous driving feature whereby the controller automatically controls steering of the vehicle;
• determining, by the controller, which of the two different lanes are supported for the autonomous driving feature based on a plurality of lane support features, determined by a set of vehicle systems, of the lane after the lane split point, wherein the set of vehicle systems includes at least one perception sensor, a navigation system, and a high-definition (HD) maps database;
• determining, by the controller, which of the two different lanes that the vehicle will follow during the lane split scenario based at least on the determined driver intent and which of the two different lanes are supported for the autonomous driving feature to obtain a target lane;
• and
• automatically controlling, by the controller, at least a steering system of the vehicle to follow the target lane,
• wherein when only one of the two different lanes is supported for the autonomous driving feature and the determined driver intent also indicates the supported lane of the two different lanes, the controller selects the supported lane of the two different lanes as the target lane,
• wherein when only one of the two different lanes is supported for the autonomous driving feature and the determined driver intent indicates the non-supported lane of the two different lanes, the method further comprises issuing, by the controller, a driver take-over request whereby the driver must at least temporarily take over control of the vehicle, and
• wherein when the driver intent cannot be determined based on at least one of the turn signal status and the steering torque and both of the two different lanes are supported for the autonomous driving feature, the driver intent determination system determines the driver intent based on the navigational data and the controller selects one of the two different lanes as the target lane according a preset route specified by the navigational data.