Decentralized reactive collision avoidance for multivehicle systems

This paper addresses a novel approach to the n-vehicle collision avoidance problem. The vehicle model used is a planar unicycle, chosen for its wide applicability to ground, sea, and air vehicles. This paper generalizes previous work with constant-speed vehicles to models that include the ability to slow down, stop and reverse. An algorithm is developed that works in conjunction with any desired controller to guarantee all vehicles remain free of collisions while attempting to follow their desired control. This algorithm is reactive and decentralized, making it well suited for real time applications, and explicitly accounts for actuation limits. Results are demonstrated in simulation.