arXiv subjects

Iftekharul Islam

Publications and source records attributed to Iftekharul Islam.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

HyDRA Scorpion: A Cost-effective and Modular ROV for Real-Time Underwater Inspection, Intervention, and Object Detection

A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is a tethered underwater robot used for tasks like inspection and intervention. While essential tools for underwater science, the high cost of commercial ROVs and a persistent gap between mechanically capable platforms and those with integrated intelligence create a significant barrier to access. HyDRA Scorpion differs from conventional systems by addressing these challenges, integrating an advanced, AI-driven perception stack with in-situ measurement capabilities onto a low-cost, locally manufacturable platform. The system combines 4-DoF maneuverability, dual manipulators, and a custom pressure-tested housing. Experimental results validate the system's robustness and performance. Leak-free operation was confirmed through prolonged pressure testing of the electronics housing to 4 bar, equivalent to the pressure of a 304.8-meter water depth approximately in a simulated environment, with no moisture ingress detected. The vehicle also demonstrated stable station-keeping, maintaining its position within a tight tolerance of $$\pm$0.15$ meters under external disturbances. The onboard AI module achieved underwater object detection mean Average Precision (mAP) of 0.89 with real-time inference, length and 3D-mapping based distance measurement. Also, 4-DoF manipulator arm can grip and maintain dual-function manipulator feature which support 360 degree tangle-free rotation.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for Large-Scale Mixed Traffic Control

Effective mixed traffic control requires balancing efficiency, fairness, and safety. Existing approaches excel at optimizing efficiency and enforcing safety constraints but lack mechanisms to ensure equitable service, resulting in systematic starvation of vehicles on low-demand approaches. We propose a hierarchical framework combining multi-objective reinforcement learning for local intersection control with strategic routing for network-level coordination. Our approach introduces a Conflict Threat Vector that provides agents with explicit risk signals for proactive conflict avoidance, and a queue parity penalty that ensures equitable service across all traffic streams. Extensive experiments on a real-world network across different robot vehicle (RV) penetration rates demonstrate substantial improvements: up to 53% reductions in average wait time, up to 86% reductions in maximum starvation, and up to 86\% reduction in conflict rate compared to baselines, while maintaining fuel efficiency. Our analysis reveals that strategic routing effectiveness scales with RV penetration, becoming increasingly valuable at higher autonomy levels. The results demonstrate that multi-objective optimization through well-curated reward functions paired with strategic RV routing yields significant benefits in fairness and safety metrics critical for equitable mixed-autonomy deployment.

cs.MA↗

arXiv2025

MIAT: Maneuver-Intention-Aware Transformer for Spatio-Temporal Trajectory Prediction

Accurate vehicle trajectory prediction is critical for safe and efficient autonomous driving, especially in mixed traffic environments when both human-driven and autonomous vehicles co-exist. However, uncertainties introduced by inherent driving behaviors -- such as acceleration, deceleration, and left and right maneuvers -- pose significant challenges for reliable trajectory prediction. We introduce a Maneuver-Intention-Aware Transformer (MIAT) architecture, which integrates a maneuver intention awareness control mechanism with spatiotemporal interaction modeling to enhance long-horizon trajectory predictions. We systematically investigate the impact of varying awareness of maneuver intention on both short- and long-horizon trajectory predictions. Evaluated on the real-world NGSIM dataset and benchmarked against various transformer- and LSTM-based methods, our approach achieves an improvement of up to 4.7% in short-horizon predictions and a 1.6% in long-horizon predictions compared to other intention-aware benchmark methods. Moreover, by leveraging intention awareness control mechanism, MIAT realizes an 11.1% performance boost in long-horizon predictions, with a modest drop in short-horizon performance. The source code and datasets are available at https://github.com/cpraskoti/MIAT.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

Analyzing Fundamental Diagrams of Mixed Traffic Control at Unsignalized Intersections

This report examines the effect of mixed traffic, specifically the variation in robot vehicle (RV) penetration rates, on the fundamental diagrams at unsignalized intersections. Through a series of simulations across four distinct intersections, the relationship between traffic flow characteristics were analyzed. The RV penetration rates were varied from 0% to 100% in increments of 25%. The study reveals that while the presence of RVs influences traffic dynamics, the impact on flow and speed is not uniform across different levels of RV penetration. The fundamental diagrams indicate that intersections may experience an increase in capacity with varying levels of RVs, but this trend does not consistently hold as RV penetration approaches 100%. The variability observed across intersections suggests that local factors possibly influence the traffic flow characteristics. These findings highlight the complexity of integrating RVs into the existing traffic system and underscore the need for intersection-specific traffic management strategies to accommodate the transition towards increased RV presence.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2024

Neighbor-Aware Reinforcement Learning for Mixed Traffic Optimization in Large-scale Networks

Managing mixed traffic comprising human-driven and robot vehicles (RVs) across large-scale networks presents unique challenges beyond single-intersection control. This paper proposes a reinforcement learning framework for coordinating mixed traffic across multiple interconnected intersections. Our key contribution is a neighbor-aware reward mechanism that enables RVs to maintain balanced distribution across the network while optimizing local intersection efficiency. We evaluate our approach using a real-world network, demonstrating its effectiveness in managing realistic traffic patterns. Results show that our method reduces average waiting times by 39.2% compared to the state-of-the-art single-intersection control policy and 79.8% compared to traditional traffic signals. The framework's ability to coordinate traffic across multiple intersections while maintaining balanced RV distribution provides a foundation for deploying learning-based solutions in urban traffic systems.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

A Comprehensive Review on Traffic Datasets and Simulators for Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous driving has rapidly evolved through synergistic developments in hardware and artificial intelligence. This comprehensive review investigates traffic datasets and simulators as dual pillars supporting autonomous vehicle (AV) development. Unlike prior surveys that examine these resources independently, we present an integrated analysis spanning the entire AV pipeline-perception, localization, prediction, planning, and control. We evaluate annotation practices and quality metrics while examining how geographic diversity and environmental conditions affect system reliability. Our analysis includes detailed characterizations of datasets organized by functional domains and an in-depth examination of traffic simulators categorized by their specialized contributions to research and development. The paper explores emerging trends, including novel architecture frameworks, multimodal AI integration, and advanced data generation techniques that address critical edge cases. By highlighting the interconnections between real-world data collection and simulation environments, this review offers researchers a roadmap for developing more robust and resilient autonomous systems equipped to handle the diverse challenges encountered in real-world driving environments.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2024

Beacon: A Naturalistic Driving Dataset During Blackouts for Benchmarking Traffic Reconstruction and Control

Extreme weather and infrastructure vulnerabilities pose significant challenges to urban mobility, particularly at intersections where signals become inoperative. To address this growing concern, we introduce Beacon, a naturalistic driving dataset capturing traffic dynamics during blackouts at two major intersections in Memphis, TN, USA. The dataset provides detailed traffic movements, including timesteps, origin, and destination lanes for each vehicle over four hours of peak periods. We analyze traffic demand, vehicle trajectories, and density across different scenarios, demonstrating high-fidelity reconstruction under unsignalized, signalized, and mixed traffic conditions. We find that integrating robot vehicles (RVs) into traffic flow can substantially reduce intersection delays, with wait time improvements of up to 82.6%. However, this enhanced traffic efficiency comes with varying environmental impacts, as decreased vehicle idling may lead to higher overall CO2 emissions. To the best of our knowledge, Beacon is the first publicly available traffic dataset for naturalistic driving behaviors during blackouts at intersections.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2024

Heterogeneous Mixed Traffic Control and Coordination

Urban intersections with diverse vehicle types, from small cars to large semi-trailers, pose significant challenges for traffic control. This study explores how robot vehicles (RVs) can enhance heterogeneous traffic flow, particularly at unsignalized intersections where traditional methods fail during power outages. Using reinforcement learning (RL) and real-world data, we simulate mixed traffic at complex intersections with RV penetration rates ranging from 10% to 90%. Results show that average waiting times drop by up to 86% and 91% compared to signalized and unsignalized intersections, respectively. We observe a "rarity advantage," where less frequent vehicles benefit the most (up to 87%). Although CO2 emissions and fuel consumption increase with RV penetration, they remain well below those of traditional signalized traffic. Decreased space headways also indicate more efficient road usage. These findings highlight RVs' potential to improve traffic efficiency and reduce environmental impact in complex, heterogeneous settings.

cs.MA↗