An obstacle avoidance method for robotic arm based on reinforcement learning

Abstract

Purpose

Robotic arms play a crucial role in various industrial operations, such as sorting, assembly, handling and spraying. However, traditional robotic arm control algorithms often struggle to adapt when faced with the challenge of dynamic obstacles. This paper aims to propose a dynamic obstacle avoidance method based on reinforcement learning to address real-time processing of dynamic obstacles.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces an innovative method that introduces a feature extraction network that integrates gating mechanisms on the basis of traditional reinforcement learning algorithms. Additionally, an adaptive dynamic reward mechanism is designed to optimize the obstacle avoidance strategy.

Findings

Validation through the CoppeliaSim simulation environment and on-site testing has demonstrated the method's capability to effectively evade randomly moving obstacles, with a significant improvement in the convergence speed compared to traditional algorithms.

Originality/value

The proposed dynamic obstacle avoidance method based on Reinforcement Learning not only accomplishes the task of dynamic obstacle avoidance efficiently but also offers a distinct advantage in terms of convergence speed. This approach provides a novel solution to the obstacle avoidance methods for robotic arms.

Citation

Wu, P., Su, H., Dong, H., Liu, T., Li, M. and Chen, Z. (2025), "An obstacle avoidance method for robotic arm based on reinforcement learning", Industrial Robot, Vol. 52 No. 1, pp. 9-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-05-2024-0206