Dynamic Collision Avoidance for an Anthropomorphic Manipulator Using a 3D TOF Camera

This paper describes a practical approach for dynamic collision avoidance for a position-controlled anthropomorphic manipulator. The collision avoidance problem is solved as a virtual spring-damper force control problem. A 3D Time-Of-Flight (TOF) camera is used as a proximity sensor to identify the position of the obstacle near the elbow of the manipulator. The dynamic collision avoidance algorithm forms a virtual spring-damper around an obstacle which is near to the elbow of the manipulator. The inverse kinematics of the manipulator is solved analytically, in which the redundancy is used to avoid the obstacle. The experimental results show that the dynamic collision avoidance algorithm along with the 3D TOF camera can be used to avoid dynamic obstacle.