Dynamic Obstacle Layer: A new concept to avoid moving obstacles in local path planning using ROS

Abstract:
A new concept for wheeled robots to circumvent moving obstacles while navigating is presented. It virtually scales the obstacles along their velocity vector, to avoid the space in front of the obstacles in path planning. This concept, the ”Dynamic Obstacle Layer“ is developed and tested in ROS. It integrates with the ROS navigation stack and can be used in conjunction with any local path planner. In this work tests are carried out with ROS implementations of the Dynamic Window Approach, the Elastic Band Algorithm and the Timed Elastic Band. In those tests, the performance of the Dynamic Window Approach and the Elastic Band Algorithm concerning dynamic obstacles is enhanced while adding approximately 1 percentage point of computing time.