A Redundancy-Based Approach to Obstacle Avoidance Applied to Mobile Robot Navigation

In this paper, we propose a framework for visual navigation with simultaneous obstacle avoidance. The obstacles are modeled by using a vortex potential field, derived from an occupancy grid. Kinematic redundancy guarantees that obstacle avoidance and navigation are achieved concurrently, and the whole scheme is merely sensor-based. The problem is solved both in an obstacle-free and in a dangerous context, and the control law is smoothened in the intermediate situations. In a series of simulations, we show that with our framework, a robot can replay a taught visual path while avoiding collisions, even in the presence of visual occlusions.