Research Track

Decomposed Hybrid Reasoning for Autonomous Driving

Fusing Physics-Based and Policy-Based Constraints via Interval Arithmetic

The Problem: Hybrid Reasoning in LLMs

Current LLMs cannot reliably fuse physics-based numerical reasoning with policy-based symbolic reasoning for autonomous driving decisions. We propose architectural decomposition as the solution.

Monolithic LLM
57.5%
Overall Accuracy
CoT Prompting
62.3%
Overall Accuracy
Tool-Augmented
73.2%
Overall Accuracy
Hybrid (Ours)
88.3%
+34.7 pp vs Monolithic

Key Finding

On the hardest hybrid-reasoning scenarios (requiring simultaneous physics and policy integration), our decomposed framework achieves 86.2% accuracy compared to 51.5% for monolithic LLMs — a 34.7 percentage-point improvement. Physics computation errors drop from 12.2m to 0.9m (13x reduction).

Architecture: Decomposed Hybrid Reasoning

Each reasoning mode is handled by a dedicated module operating in its area of strength.

Scenario Description (Natural Language)
↓
LLM Scenario Parser
Extract entities, speeds, distances, conditions
↓
Physics Engine
Interval arithmetic: braking, TTC, gaps
Policy Engine
Rule DB: speed limits, margins, zones
↓
Constraint Fusion & Decision
Priority-weighted constraint satisfaction
↓
Decision + Confidence + Explanation

Results: Decision Accuracy by Reasoning Mode

Monolithic LLM
CoT LLM
Tool-Aug. LLM
Hybrid (Ours)

Accuracy by Difficulty Level

Monolithic LLM
CoT LLM
Tool-Aug. LLM
Hybrid (Ours)

Complete Results Table

Reasoning ModeMonolithic LLMCoT LLMTool-Aug. LLMHybrid (Ours)
Simple0.7500.8331.0001.000
Physics-Only0.7000.7670.9170.967
Policy-Only0.8590.7970.6560.938
Hybrid0.5150.5750.7110.862
Overall0.5750.6230.7320.883

Accuracy Across Weather and Road Conditions

Toggle between models to compare accuracy across environmental conditions.

Interactive Demo: Hybrid Reasoning Engine

Configure a driving scenario and see how the decomposed framework computes a decision.

Scenario Configuration

Decision Output

Physics Computation Accuracy

Deterministic interval arithmetic reduces physics errors by an order of magnitude.

Braking Distance MAE
12.2m
Monolithic LLM
→
0.9m
Hybrid (Ours)
13x reduction
TTC Estimation MAE
10.4s
Monolithic LLM
→
1.0s
Hybrid (Ours)
10x reduction

Physics Error by Model

MetricMonolithic LLMCoT LLMTool-Aug. LLMHybrid (Ours)
Braking Dist. MAE (m)12.2 +/- 24.18.7 +/- 16.02.6 +/- 5.10.9 +/- 1.5
TTC MAE (s)10.4 +/- 28.17.5 +/- 18.72.8 +/- 6.91.0 +/- 2.6