# UNCAP: Uncertainty-Guided Neurosymbolic Planning Using Natural Language Communication for Cooperative Autonomous Vehicles

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.12992 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.12992/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Cooperative and V2X driving, one of 9 directions in End-to-end autonomous driving.
- Builds on 17 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Oct 2025.

## Placed in

- End-to-end autonomous driving / [Cooperative and V2X driving](https://mlsanity.com/driving/cooperative-and-v2x-driving/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [On Calibration of Modern Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.04599/) (2017)
- [A Gentle Introduction to Conformal Prediction and Distribution-Free Uncertainty Quantification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.07511/) (2021)
- [YOLOv9: Learning What You Want to Learn Using Programmable Gradient Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.13616/) (2024)
- [Beyond temperature scaling: Obtaining well-calibrated multiclass probabilities with Dirichlet calibration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.12656/) (2019)
- [GPT-Driver: Learning to Drive with GPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.01415/) (2023)
- [V2X-ViT: Vehicle-to-Everything Cooperative Perception with Vision Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.10638/) (2022)
- [V2VNet: Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication for Joint Perception and Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.07519/) (2020)
- [LanguageMPC: Large Language Models as Decision Makers for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03026/) (2023)
- [Cooper: Cooperative Perception for Connected Autonomous Vehicles based on 3D Point Clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.05265/) (2019)
- [A Language Agent for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.10813/) (2023)
- [Cooperative Perception for 3D Object Detection in Driving Scenarios using Infrastructure Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.12147/) (2019)
- [COOPERNAUT: End-to-End Driving with Cooperative Perception for Networked Vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.02222/) (2022)
- [LangCoop: Collaborative Driving with Language](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13406/) (2025)
- [Know Where You're Uncertain When Planning with Multimodal Foundation Models: A Formal Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.01639/) (2024)
- [CoopReflect: Towards Natural Language Communication for Cooperative Autonomous Driving via Multi-Agent Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18334/) (2025)
- [End-to-End V2X Latency Modeling and Analysis in 5G Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.06082/) (2022)
- [How Safe Will I Be Given What I Saw? Calibrated Prediction of Safety Chances for Image-Controlled Autonomy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09346/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [RepV: Safety-Separable Latent Spaces for Scalable Neurosymbolic Plan Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.26935/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Safe large-scale coordination of multiple cooperative connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) hinges on communication that is both efficient and interpretable. Existing approaches either rely on transmitting high-bandwidth raw sensor data streams or neglect perception and planning uncertainties inherent in shared data, resulting in systems that are neither scalable nor safe. To address these limitations, we propose Uncertainty-Guided Natural Language Cooperative Autonomous Planning (UNCAP), a vision-language model-based planning approach that enables CAVs to communicate via lightweight natural language messages while explicitly accounting for perception uncertainty in decision-making. UNCAP features a two-stage communication protocol: (i) an ego CAV first identifies the subset of vehicles most relevant for information exchange, and (ii) the selected CAVs then transmit messages that quantitatively express their perception uncertainty. By selectively fusing messages that maximize mutual information, this strategy allows the ego vehicle to integrate only the most relevant signals into its decision-making, improving both the scalability and reliability of cooperative planning. Experiments across diverse driving scenarios show a 63% reduction in communication bandwidth with a 31% increase in driving safety score, a 61% reduction in decision uncertainty, and a four-fold increase in collision distance margin during near-miss events. Project website: https://uncap-project.github.io/