Socially aware robot navigation framework in crowded and dynamic environments: A comparison of motion planning techniques

We present a comparison of navigation capability for mobile robots in crowded environments between the hybrid reciprocal velocity obstacle (HRVO) model and the social force model (SFM). The SFM determines the velocities to drive a mobile robot to its goal destination by using information about the position of surrounding humans and obstacles; meanwhile, the HRVO model considers the current position and velocity to calculate the new velocity for the mobile robot. The comparison is evaluated by conducting experiments in simulation environment. The experimental results have demonstrated that using additional information help the mobile robot achieve better performance when avoiding obstacles in crowded environments. © 2021 IEEE.