Collision avoidance

When moving a traverse it is necessary to be careful to avoid colliding with building parts like walls and the floor. Also collision with objects in the reachable range of the traverse must be avoided.

Optionally the control system for the traverse can be extended with a collision avoidance feature.

The traverse parts are described as a number of small boxes.
The parts of the building that can be reached by the traverse are also described as a number of boxes.
Finally a number of objects can be described as a number of boxes.

Continuously during movement, calculations of the positions of each traverse box are carried out and it's distance to any building part or other object is calculated.
If the distance is critical, the traverse speed is reduced and if the distance comes below a minimum, the traverse is stopped to avoid collision.

The PanRoll170 probe manipulator with an arm, is shown as an example.

Distance calculations are always carried out for the big boxes.
If the distance between one of the big boxes and a building part or other object is critical, calculations are also carried out for the small boxes inside the big box.
Depending on the distance, the traverse speed is reduced or the traverse is stopped.

Calculations are part of the PLC programs controlling the traverse, which run in a real-time environment.