A flexible, shock-absorbing bumper system with touch-sensing capability for autonomous vehicles

Abstract

A bumper system for an autonomous vehicle as described. It has been primarily designed for a mobile robot operating in a multi-robot environment. Though mainly thought to avoid damage to the robot and to the environment in case of collision, the bumper has some additional properties: reduction of wheel slip during collision, a limited touch-sensing capability without extra cost, and a simple human "push interface". The paper describes the design and functionality of the bumper system, the experiments which have been performed, and what future work is planned with this bumper.