Modeling and simulation of overtaking behavior involving environment

•Overtaking behavior model based on intelligent vehicles involving environment effect is established.•Fuzzy logic based intelligent vehicle controllers adapting to complex environment are designed.•Virtual reality combines with Geographic Information System to realize terrain visualization and provide realistic environment information for simulation.•Overtaking behavior maneuver considering environment is realized in virtual reality simulation system.

Overtaking is a complex driving behavior for intelligent vehicles. Current research on modeling overtaking behavior pays little attention on the effect of environment. This paper focuses on the modeling and simulation of the overtaking behavior in virtual reality traffic simulation system involving environment information, such as road geometry and wind. First, an intelligent vehicle model is proposed to better understand environment information and traffic situation. Then, overtaking behavior model is introduced in detail, the lane changing feasibility is analyzed and the fuzzy vehicle controllers considering the road and wind effect are researched. Virtual reality traffic simulation system is designed to realize the simulation of overtaking behavior, with realistic road geometry features. Finally, simulation results show the correctness and the effectiveness of our approach.