The Hybrid Reciprocal Velocity Obstacle

http://gamma.cs.unc.edu/HRVO/

Copyright © 2009-2015 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.

We present the hybrid reciprocal velocity obstacle for collision-free and oscillation-free navigation of multiple mobile robots or virtual agents. Each robot senses its surroundings and acts independently without central coordination or communication with other robots. Our approach uses both the current position and the velocity of other robots to compute their future trajectories in order to avoid collisions. Moreover, our approach is reciprocal and avoids oscillations by explicitly taking into account that the other robots also sense their surroundings and change their trajectories accordingly. We apply hybrid reciprocal velocity obstacles to iRobot Create mobile robots and demonstrate direct, collision-free, and oscillation-free navigation.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for educational, non-commercial research, and non-profit purposes, without fee, and without a written agreement is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice, this paragraph, and the following four paragraphs appear in all copies.

Permission to incorporate this software into commercial products may be obtained by contacting the authors ([email protected]) or the Office of Technology Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ([email protected]).

This software program and documentation are copyrighted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The software program and documentation are supplied "as is," without any accompanying services from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or the authors. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the authors do not warrant that the operation of the program will be uninterrupted or error-free. The end-user understands that the program was developed for research purposes and is advised not to rely exclusively on the program for any reason.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL OR THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL OR THE AUTHORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL AND THE AUTHORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY STATUTORY WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL AND THE AUTHORS HAVE NO OBLIGATIONS TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.

Please send all bug reports to [email protected].

The authors may be contacted via:

Jamie Snape, Jur van den Berg, Stephen J. Guy, and Dinesh Manocha
Dept. of Computer Science
201 S. Columbia St.
Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. Computer Science Bldg.
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-3175
United States of America