Automatic obstacle avoidance at high speeds via reflex control

A reflex control system is proposed for the realization of automatic collision avoidance in an environment that is compatible with arbitrary higher-level torque-based controllers. The system has the virtue of being failsafe without introducing unnecessary interference in the execution of higher-level controls. The reflex controller is useful for safely experimenting with new, possibly unstable control algorithms. Operation of the reflexes proposed here, although implemented as a decision-making process, is equivalent to the action of repulsive potential fields plus dissipative terms. The equivalent potential fields have a finite range of influences and combine through logic and set operations rather than linear superposition. Reflex control has been demonstrated to work effectively in the presence of moving, albeit quasi-static, obstacles