Goal-conditioned Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning for Sample-efficient and Safe Autonomous Driving at Intersections

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Huang, Yiou
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Huang, Yiou
author_facet Huang, Yiou
contents Reinforcement learning (RL) exhibits remarkable potential in addressing autonomous driving tasks. However, it is difficult to train a sample-efficient and safe policy in complex scenarios. In this article, we propose a novel hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) framework with a goal-conditioned collision prediction (GCCP) module. In the hierarchical structure, the GCCP module predicts collision risks according to different potential subgoals of the ego vehicle. A high-level decision-maker choose the best safe subgoal. A low-level motion-planner interacts with the environment according to the subgoal. Compared to traditional RL methods, our algorithm is more sample-efficient, since its hierarchical structure allows reusing the policies of subgoals across similar tasks for various navigation scenarios. In additional, the GCCP module's ability to predict both the ego vehicle's and surrounding vehicles' future actions according to different subgoals, ensures the safety of the ego vehicle throughout the decision-making process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method converges to an optimal policy faster and achieves higher safety than traditional RL methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_16336
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Goal-conditioned Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning for Sample-efficient and Safe Autonomous Driving at Intersections
Huang, Yiou
Robotics
Multiagent Systems
Reinforcement learning (RL) exhibits remarkable potential in addressing autonomous driving tasks. However, it is difficult to train a sample-efficient and safe policy in complex scenarios. In this article, we propose a novel hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) framework with a goal-conditioned collision prediction (GCCP) module. In the hierarchical structure, the GCCP module predicts collision risks according to different potential subgoals of the ego vehicle. A high-level decision-maker choose the best safe subgoal. A low-level motion-planner interacts with the environment according to the subgoal. Compared to traditional RL methods, our algorithm is more sample-efficient, since its hierarchical structure allows reusing the policies of subgoals across similar tasks for various navigation scenarios. In additional, the GCCP module's ability to predict both the ego vehicle's and surrounding vehicles' future actions according to different subgoals, ensures the safety of the ego vehicle throughout the decision-making process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method converges to an optimal policy faster and achieves higher safety than traditional RL methods.
title Goal-conditioned Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning for Sample-efficient and Safe Autonomous Driving at Intersections
topic Robotics
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16336