Point cloud based dynamical system modulation for reactive avoidance of convex and concave obstacles

The ability of the robot to avoid undesired collisions with humans and objects in its workspace is of importance in the field of human-robot interaction. In this paper, we propose an algorithm which allows the robot to avoid obstacles and to reach the assigned goal as long as the goal does not lie within obstacles. For this purpose, dynamical system modulation approach is adopted which ensures the avoidance of convex and concave obstacles. A modulation matrix can be calculated directly from the point cloud data of obstacles in the scene, without the need of analytical representation of the obstacles. This matrix modulates a generic first order dynamical system, used to generate the goal. In this way we guarantee the obstacles avoidance and the reaching of the goal. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated with numerical simulations and experiments on a 7 DOF KUKA light weight arm. © 2013 IEEE.