A Dynamical System Approach to Decentralized Collision-free Autonomous Coordination of a Mobile Assistive Furniture Swarm

In order to facilitate and assist the indoor mobility of people with special needs, the classically static objects in the environment, such as furniture, can be rendered mobile. The need for efficient and safe autonomous coordination of a mobile furniture swarm arises. We present a closed-form approach for mobile furniture obstacle avoidance and navigation within an indoor environment. The approach shows that each mobile furniture agent, defined by a polygonal surface, does not collide with any static or mobile obstacle (e.g., a person is moving around). All controllable mobile furniture converges towards a defined goal position and orientation. We showcase the application of this algorithm in simulation on mobile furniture for smart environments. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can coordinate a swarm of mobile furniture to get out of the way of a mobile agent representing a person with limited mobility passing through the room while avoiding obstacles and converging towards a predefined target pose.