GENERATING REFERENCE TRAJECTORIES FOR VEHICLES IN CONFINED AREAS

A computer-implemented method for optimizing a reference trajectory for an automated vehicle operating in a confined area, the reference trajectory comprising a sequence of reference data points representing a recorded trajectory for the vehicle when following a repeated or cyclical trajectory in the confined area, the method comprising: determining a geometrical projection of the sequence of reference data points for fitting the sequence of reference data points onto a candidate reference trajectory using a discretized projection operation, wherein the projection smooths the fit of the sequence of reference data to a set of data points forming the candidate reference trajectory subject to one or more constraints; quantifying a performance of at least one vehicle task to be performed by the vehicle along the reference trajectory in a simulation of the candidate trajectory; and optimizing the quantified performance to obtain an optimal reference trajectory for the vehicle in the confined area.