Reinforcement Learning Enabled Safety-Critical Tracking of Automated Vehicles with Uncertainties via Integrated Control-Dependent, Time-Varying Barrier Function, and Control Lyapunov Function

Model uncertainties are considered in a learning-based control framework that combines control dependent barrier function (CDBF), time-varying control barrier function (TCBF), and control Lyapunov function (CLF). Tracking control is achieved by CLF, while safety-critical constraints during tracking are guaranteed by CDBF and TCBF. A reinforcement learning (RL) method is applied to jointly learn model uncertainties that related to CDBF, TCBF, and CLF. The learning-based framework eventually formulates a quadratic programming (QP) with different constraints of CDBF, TCBF and CLF involving model uncertainties. It is the first time to apply the proposed learning-based framework for safety-guaranteed tracking control of automated vehicles with uncertainties. The control performances are validated for two different single-lane change maneuvers via Simulink/CarSim^® co-simulation and compared for the cases with and without learning. Moreover, the learning effects are discussed through explainable constraints in the QP formulation.