Task-consistent obstacle avoidance and motion behavior for mobile manipulation

Applications in mobile manipulation require sophisticated motion execution skills to address issues like redundancy resolution, reactive obstacle avoidance, and transitioning between different motion behaviors. The elastic strip framework is an approach to reactive motion generation providing an integrated solution to these problems. Novel techniques within the elastic strip framework are presented, allowing task-consistent obstacle avoidance and task-consistent motion behavior. General transition criteria and methods are presented, permitting the suspension and resumption of task execution to ensure other desired motion behavior, such as obstacle avoidance. Task execution has to be suspended when kinematic constraints or changes in the environment render task-consistent motion behavior infeasible. Task execution is resumed as soon as it is consistent with other desired motion behaviors.