Safety-Aware Perception for Autonomous Collision Avoidance in Dynamic Environments

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bena, Ryan M., Zhao, Chongbo, Nguyen, Quan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bena, Ryan M.
Zhao, Chongbo
Nguyen, Quan
author_facet Bena, Ryan M.
Zhao, Chongbo
Nguyen, Quan
contents Autonomous collision avoidance requires accurate environmental perception; however, flight systems often possess limited sensing capabilities with field-of-view (FOV) restrictions. To navigate this challenge, we present a safety-aware approach for online determination of the optimal sensor-pointing direction $ψ_\text{d}$ which utilizes control barrier functions (CBFs). First, we generate a spatial density function $Φ$ which leverages CBF constraints to map the collision risk of all local coordinates. Then, we convolve $Φ$ with an attitude-dependent sensor FOV quality function to produce the objective function $Γ$ which quantifies the total observed risk for a given pointing direction. Finally, by finding the global optimizer for $Γ$, we identify the value of $ψ_\text{d}$ which maximizes the perception of risk within the FOV. We incorporate $ψ_\text{d}$ into a safety-critical flight architecture and conduct a numerical analysis using multiple simulated mission profiles. Our algorithm achieves a success rate of $88-96\%$, constituting a $16-29\%$ improvement compared to the best heuristic methods. We demonstrate the functionality of our approach via a flight demonstration using the Crazyflie 2.1 micro-quadrotor. Without a priori obstacle knowledge, the quadrotor follows a dynamic flight path while simultaneously calculating and tracking $ψ_\text{d}$ to perceive and avoid two static obstacles with an average computation time of 371 $μ$s.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_13929
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Safety-Aware Perception for Autonomous Collision Avoidance in Dynamic Environments
Bena, Ryan M.
Zhao, Chongbo
Nguyen, Quan
Robotics
Systems and Control
Autonomous collision avoidance requires accurate environmental perception; however, flight systems often possess limited sensing capabilities with field-of-view (FOV) restrictions. To navigate this challenge, we present a safety-aware approach for online determination of the optimal sensor-pointing direction $ψ_\text{d}$ which utilizes control barrier functions (CBFs). First, we generate a spatial density function $Φ$ which leverages CBF constraints to map the collision risk of all local coordinates. Then, we convolve $Φ$ with an attitude-dependent sensor FOV quality function to produce the objective function $Γ$ which quantifies the total observed risk for a given pointing direction. Finally, by finding the global optimizer for $Γ$, we identify the value of $ψ_\text{d}$ which maximizes the perception of risk within the FOV. We incorporate $ψ_\text{d}$ into a safety-critical flight architecture and conduct a numerical analysis using multiple simulated mission profiles. Our algorithm achieves a success rate of $88-96\%$, constituting a $16-29\%$ improvement compared to the best heuristic methods. We demonstrate the functionality of our approach via a flight demonstration using the Crazyflie 2.1 micro-quadrotor. Without a priori obstacle knowledge, the quadrotor follows a dynamic flight path while simultaneously calculating and tracking $ψ_\text{d}$ to perceive and avoid two static obstacles with an average computation time of 371 $μ$s.
title Safety-Aware Perception for Autonomous Collision Avoidance in Dynamic Environments
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.13929