Collision Avoidance

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Overview

Collision avoidance studies how to detect potential impacts and choose safe actions for systems ranging from road vehicles and drones to robots, ships, and spacecraft. Common approaches include geometric methods such as velocity obstacles, model predictive control, control barrier functions, and reachability analysis, alongside reinforcement learning and learned perception. Work increasingly accounts for uncertainty in motion, sensing, communication, and hidden obstacles, and tests methods in dense multi-agent settings as well as real-world deployments. A central challenge is balancing strong safety guarantees with efficient, timely decisions that are not so conservative that they block useful motion.

Latest papers

CardsList

91 papers11 papers in the last four weeks, up 83% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Continuous-Time Safe Planning and Control for Agile Quadrupeds

    Oct 26, 2026Gage MacLin, Mason Peterson, Camilla Tabasso +4Safe Motion PlanningQuadruped Robot Navigation

    Amazon Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics, Westborough MA, USA. · University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52240. · Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

  2. SCET-CBF: Speed-Calibrated Soft Guidance for One-Step Dynamic Navigation

    Oct 24, 2026Xiaoyu Han, Dongkun HanDynamic Obstacle AvoidanceCollision Avoidance

    University College London · Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. · The Chinese University of Hong Kong +1

  3. Neuromorphic Decision Dynamics for Deadlock-free Safe Navigation in Congested Environments

    Oct 23, 2026Himani Sinhmar, Vaibhav Srivastava, Naomi Ehrich LeonardDecentralized Multi-Agent Motion PlanningMulti-Agent Coordination

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, NJ, USA. · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, MI, USA.

  4. Distributed Platoon Control for Safe and Smooth Crossing at an Unsignalized Intersection-Part I: Stability Analysis

    Oct 20, 2026Bin-Bin Hu, Shuwei Pei, Saeed Ahmed +1Distributed ControlIntelligent Transportation Systems

    Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands

  5. Low-Latency Mapless ESDF Queries for MAV Reactive Collision Avoidance

    Oct 9, 2026Leonard Freißmuth, Cedric Le Gentil, Helen Oleynikova +1Collision AvoidanceRobot Collision Avoidance

    Mobile Robotics Lab, ETH Zurich

  6. Distributionally Robust Adaptive Iterative Covariance Steering for Small-Body Proximity Operations

    Oct 8, 2026Vivek Khatana, Aditya Gahlawat, Naira Hovakimyan +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsCollision Avoidance

    Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

  7. Expressiveness, Equivalence, and Uncertainty in Velocity Obstacles and Closest Point of Approach Metrics

    Oct 5, 2026Elizabeth Dietrich, Liam M. Imagawa, Hanna Krasowski +3Collision AvoidanceUncertainty Quantification

    University of California, Berkeley, USA · Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

  8. Emergency Obstacle Avoidance Maneuvers in Differential-Drive Mobile Robots

    Oct 4, 2026Kautik Mandve, Nilay KantCollision AvoidanceMobile Robotics

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA

  9. PB-STDG: A Prediction-Based Short-Term Decentralized Greedy Guidance Algorithm for a Drone Road System

    Oct 4, 2026Zhouyu Qu, Andreas Willig, Xiaobing WuCollision AvoidanceMulti-Robot Motion Planning

    Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand · Wireless Research Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

  10. GJK-CBF: Control Barrier Functions for Convex Rigid Body Collision Avoidance on SE(3)

    Oct 4, 2026Yi-Hsuan Chen, Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao +2Collision AvoidanceRobot Collision Avoidance

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA · School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, and with M3S, SMART, Singapore +1

  11. Zero-Shot Reactive Obstacle Avoidance for Generative Robot Policies

    Sep 28, 2026Weihang Guo, Lydia E. KavrakiCollision AvoidanceRobot Collision Avoidance

    Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA · Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice University

  12. Strategically Robust Game-Theoretic Multi-Agent Trajectory Optimization

    Sep 28, 2026Victor L. Qin, Nicolas Lanzetti, Saverio Bolognani +1Collision AvoidanceTrajectory Optimization

    Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT. · Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Caltech. · Automatic Control Laboratory, ETH Zurich.

  13. Combining Evasive and Braking Reactions for Safety Reference Models in Automated Vehicles

    Sep 24, 2026Riccardo Donà, Konstantinos Mattas, Biagio CiuffoCollision AvoidanceAutonomous Driving Safety Evaluation

    Joint Research Centre for the European Commission, Ispra, IT

  14. REACT: A Fully Spiking State-Space Model for Real-Time Event-Driven Temporal Perception

    Sep 16, 2026Geoffroy Keime, Nicolas Cuperlier, Benoit R. CottereauCollision AvoidanceEvent-Based Vision

    CerCo, CNRS UMR5549 Université de Toulouse Toulouse, France · IPAL, CNRS IRL, Singapore · ETIS, CY Cergy Paris Université CNRS, ENSEA Cergy, France

  15. Learning Communication-Conditioned Generative Policies for Decentralized Multi-Agent Collision Avoidance

    Sep 13, 2026Prajwal Koirala, Mark CampbellCollision AvoidanceDecentralized MARL

    Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University

  16. Chance-Constrained Belief-Space Maneuver Planning for Autonomous Collision Avoidance Under Uncertainty

    Sep 11, 2026Grace Ra Kim, Duncan Eddy, Mykel J. KochenderferCollision AvoidanceBelief-Space Planning

    Stanford University

  17. Future-Aware Flow Planning for Safe UAV Target Following

    Sep 9, 2026Boning Feng, Haoran Zhang, Xiaowen Bi +2Collision AvoidanceUAV Navigation

    Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden · School of Urban Planning and Design, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518055, China · Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Risk Perception and Sustainable Governance in Energy Transition, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China +2

  18. Conflict-Predictive Variable Horizons in Multi-Drone Distributed Model Predictive Control

    Sep 7, 2026Linda Mümken, Michael Schwung, Stefan Lier +1Model Predictive ControlCollision Avoidance

    Department of Automation Technology, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, 59494 Soest, Germany · Institute of Automation and Computer Control, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany · Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, 59872 Meschede, Germany

  19. Orbit-Planner: Towards Latent World Models for On-Orbit Obstacle Avoidance of Satellite Agents

    Aug 17, 2026Zhijian Li, Chao Ren, Peijin Wang +1Collision AvoidanceWorld Model-Based Planning

    Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100094 Beijing, China · School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China +1

  20. A Temporal Barrier Framework for Collision Avoidance in Multi-Agent Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

    Aug 14, 2026Benedikt Barthel Sorensen, Mitchell Black, Erfaun Noorani +1Collision AvoidanceAerial Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA · MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA, USA

  21. Satellite Trajectory Optimization via Proximal Policy Optimization for Space Debris Avoidance

    Aug 10, 2026Logan Luna, Juan Ortiz Couder, Raul Alejandro Vargas-AcostaCollision AvoidanceTrajectory Optimization

    Georgia Institute of Technology · Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

  22. Plan-and-Avoid: Real-Time Aircraft Trajectory Coordination in a Multi-Agent Environment

    Aug 6, 2026Huseyin Emre Tekaslan, Ella M. Atkins, Natasha NeogiCollision AvoidanceMulti-Agent Coordination

    Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA · NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA

  23. NSF-HRPT: Neural Semantic Field meets Hierarchical Risk Perception Tree for Safety-Critical Scenario Assessment

    Aug 5, 2026Yu Zhao, Jiangyu Pan, Tao Hu +4Collision AvoidanceAutonomous Driving Safety Evaluation

    Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China · Beihang University, Beijing, China

  24. AeroDPO: Unleashing Lightweight UAV Navigation with High-Fidelity Perception and Automated Preference Optimization

    Aug 2, 2026Peng Xu, Chengcheng Wang, Shaohua WanCollision AvoidanceDirect Preference Optimization

    University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China · 2Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, UESTC, Shenzhen, China

  25. Neural Operator Learning for Collision-Aware Trajectory Planning of Spacecraft Swarms

    Jul 31, 2026Sidhdharth D. Sikka, Suyi Gao, Zehui Lu +2Collision AvoidanceTrajectory Optimization

    Manifold Research Group and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA · Department of Mathematics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA · Independent Researcher, Fremont, CA USA

  26. Convex Collision-Free Regions

    Jul 29, 2026Tomoyo Kikuchi, Takashi KanaiCollision AvoidancePhysics-Based Simulation

    Kyoto University, Japan · The University of Tokyo, Japan

  27. Risk-Aware Motion Planning with Learned Trajectory Primitives and Probabilistic Safety Assessment

    Jul 29, 2026Marc Kaufeld, Dian Zhuang, Johannes BetzCollision AvoidanceConstrained Motion Planning

    Professorship of Autonomous Vehicle Systems, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany; Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) · School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany

  28. Semi-Decentralized Multi-Spacecraft Collision Avoidance under Communication Constraints

    Jul 29, 2026Grace Ra Kim, Mahdi Al-Husseini, Duncan Eddy +1Collision AvoidancePartially Observable Markov Decision Processes

    PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 · Post-Doctoral Researcher, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 · Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

  29. Anticipatory Risk-Guided Reinforcement Learning for Safe Flight Through Dynamic Clutter

    Jul 26, 2026Yuchao Mei, Guohao Zhang, Luxia Ai +2Collision AvoidanceRisk-Sensitive RL

    National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Multi-spectral Information Processing, School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

  30. Remote ID Spoofing-Aware Trajectory Planning for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

    Jul 22, 2026Jeremiah Webb, Bryce Bjorkman, Abel Diaz Gonzalez +7Collision AvoidanceUAV Navigation

    Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA · The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA