Proactive Hierarchical Control Barrier Function-Based Safety Prioritization in Close Human-Robot Interaction Scenarios

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Maithani, Patanjali, Arab, Aliasghar, Khorrami, Farshad, Krishnamurthy, Prashanth
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Maithani, Patanjali
Arab, Aliasghar
Khorrami, Farshad
Krishnamurthy, Prashanth
author_facet Maithani, Patanjali
Arab, Aliasghar
Khorrami, Farshad
Krishnamurthy, Prashanth
contents In collaborative human-robot environments, the unpredictable and dynamic nature of human motion can lead to situations where collisions become unavoidable. In such cases, it is essential for the robotic system to proactively mitigate potential harm through intelligent control strategies. This paper presents a hierarchical control framework based on Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) designed to ensure safe and adaptive operation of autonomous robotic manipulators during close-proximity human-robot interaction. The proposed method introduces a relaxation variable that enables real-time prioritization of safety constraints, allowing the robot to dynamically manage collision risks based on the criticality of different parts of the human body. A secondary constraint mechanism is incorporated to resolve infeasibility by increasing the priority of imminent threats. The framework is experimentally validated on a Franka Research 3 robot equipped with a ZED2i AI camera for real-time human pose and body detection. Experimental results confirm that the CBF-based controller, integrated with depth sensing, facilitates responsive and safe human-robot collaboration, while providing detailed risk analysis and maintaining robust performance in highly dynamic settings.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_16055
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Proactive Hierarchical Control Barrier Function-Based Safety Prioritization in Close Human-Robot Interaction Scenarios
Maithani, Patanjali
Arab, Aliasghar
Khorrami, Farshad
Krishnamurthy, Prashanth
Robotics
Systems and Control
In collaborative human-robot environments, the unpredictable and dynamic nature of human motion can lead to situations where collisions become unavoidable. In such cases, it is essential for the robotic system to proactively mitigate potential harm through intelligent control strategies. This paper presents a hierarchical control framework based on Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) designed to ensure safe and adaptive operation of autonomous robotic manipulators during close-proximity human-robot interaction. The proposed method introduces a relaxation variable that enables real-time prioritization of safety constraints, allowing the robot to dynamically manage collision risks based on the criticality of different parts of the human body. A secondary constraint mechanism is incorporated to resolve infeasibility by increasing the priority of imminent threats. The framework is experimentally validated on a Franka Research 3 robot equipped with a ZED2i AI camera for real-time human pose and body detection. Experimental results confirm that the CBF-based controller, integrated with depth sensing, facilitates responsive and safe human-robot collaboration, while providing detailed risk analysis and maintaining robust performance in highly dynamic settings.
title Proactive Hierarchical Control Barrier Function-Based Safety Prioritization in Close Human-Robot Interaction Scenarios
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16055