A report describes experiments on the concept described in "Real-Time Collision Avoidance for a Robot Arm" (NPO-19861), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 20, No. 12 (December 1996), page 98. Under this concept, collision-avoidance software processes data computed by model-based obstacle-detection software to generate perturbations of the trajectory of a robot arm away from the commanded trajectory whenever the commanded trajectory brings the arm within a specified distance from one or more obstacle(s). In computing the perturbation, the software strives to nullify a virtual repulsive force proportional to the incursion of the obstacle plus a virtual damping force proportional to the closing velocity of the arm and the obstacle.

This work was done by Homayoun Seraji, Bruce Bon, and Robert Steele of Caltech for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NPO-20336



This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Document cover
Collision-avoidance experiments on 7-DOF robot arms

(reference NPO20336) is currently available for download from the TSP library.

Don't have an account? Sign up here.