BubbleCBF: Constructive Safety for Second-Order Systems and Application to Autonomous Robot Navigation in Unknown Environments

Key points

• Satisfying safety constraints for systems with second-order dynamics is challenging because a position constraint may require infeasible deceleration.1
• Starting from a signed distance function (SDF), we construct collision-free spheres, i.e., bubbles, in position space, and use their quadratic geometry and overlap to construct a velocity-dependent safety constraint.1
• Under mild assumptions on the dynamics, bubble overlap, and design parameters, we prove that the quadratic-program-based controller is well defined, continuous in the system state, and renders the set forward invariant.1
• We demonstrate that our BubbleCBF, applied to a differential-drive robot, achieves safe autonomous navigation in unknown environments.1

Sources (1)

• [1]BubbleCBF: Constructive Safety for Second-Order Systems and Application to Autonomous Robot Navigation in Unknown Environments
  arXiv (AI, ML, NLP, CV, robotics, multi-agent) · Oct 14, 08:24 PM

  We develop a constructive approach for designing feasible safety constraints for second-order control-affine systems.

  Satisfying safety constraints for systems with second-order dynamics is challenging because a position constraint may require infeasible deceleration.

Extractive summary: sentences quoted from the sources.