Real-time collision avoidance with whole body motion control for humanoid robots

We propose a self collision avoidance system that superposes trajectories in order not only to protect the robot's hardware but also to enable continuous motions. The system runs in real-time so that the robot can work in an uncertain environment. It is based on virtual forces between close segments of the robot. The avoidance movements are blended with a whole body motion control in order to change the priority between target reaching and collision avoidance. The blending is performed autonomously without the necessity of external switching. Our method works both while the robot is standing and walking. Reaching motions from the front to the side of the body without the arm colliding with the body are possible. Even if the target is inside the body, the arm stops at the closest point to the target outside of the body. Our method can be used for other applications: We apply it to realizing a "body schema" and for "occlusion avoidance."