# Priority-Driven Safe Model Predictive Control Approach to Autonomous Driving Applications

**Authors:** Francesco Prignoli, Ying Shuai Quan, Mohammad Jeddi, Jonas Sjöberg, Paolo Falcone  
**arXiv:** [2505.05933](https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05933)  
**Date:** 2025-05-09  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2505.05933v1/

## Abstract

This paper demonstrates the applicability of the safe model predictive control (SMPC) framework to autonomous driving scenarios, focusing on the design of adaptive cruise control (ACC) and automated lane-change systems. Building on the SMPC approach with priority-driven constraint softening -- which ensures the satisfaction of \emph{hard} constraints under external disturbances by selectively softening a predefined subset of adjustable constraints -- we show how the algorithm dynamically relaxes lower-priority, comfort-related constraints in response to unexpected disturbances while preserving critical safety requirements such as collision avoidance and lane-keeping. A learning-based algorithm approximating the time consuming SMPC is introduced to enable real-time execution. Simulations in real-world driving scenarios subject to unpredicted disturbances confirm that this prioritized softening mechanism consistently upholds stringent safety constraints, underscoring the effectiveness of the proposed method.