Energy Based Set Point Modulation for Obstacle Avoidance in Haptic Teleoperation of Aerial Robots

Abstract This paper presents a novel obstacle avoidance approach that is capable of dealing with both static and dynamic obstacles in the environment with guaranteed collision-free navigation for haptic teleoperation of VTOL aerial robots. The proposed approach modulates the set point for the vehicle's controller based on the user input energy, estimated potential energy and vehicle's kinetic energy. By shuffling the potential and kinetic energy, vehicle's velocity is regulated according to the permissible kinetic energy and thus obstacle avoidance is achieved. With careful design of the potential field, this approach offers a guaranteed collision-free navigation with the presence of both stationary and moving obstacles. Incorporating the novel approach with the Dynamic Kinesthetic Boundary, the human operator can better perceive the environment where the robot is deployed through the rich spatial haptic cues rather than an onset gradual single force vector. Analysis is provided and proves that in the case of perfect velocity tracking of the slave system, the proposed algorithm can guarantee a collision-free navigation through the environment. Simulations and experiments were conducted, and the results provide verification of the effectiveness of the proposed approach in obstacle and collision avoidance for haptic teleoperation of aerial robots.