Time-dependent HOCBFs for a Partially Controllable Path-Following System

This paper presents a collision avoidance method for a path-following controller for a system with high relative degree and constant velocity along the path. High-order control barrier functions and a coordinate transformation are employed to safely avoid static and dynamic obstacles by modifying the nominal control output. A novel proof formulation for high-order control barrier functions simplifies existing derivations. Feasibility of the optimization problem is studied and a low computational effort method for hazard detection is presented. The method is implemented for a path-following controller in nominal simulation and on a real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulator.