This paper considers collision avoidance for vehicles with first-order nonholonomic constraints maintaining nonzero forward speeds, moving within dynamic environments. We leverage the concept of control barrier functions (CBFs) to synthesize control inputs that prioritize safety, where the safety criteria are derived from the velocity obstacle principle. Existing instantiations of CBFs for collision avoidance, e.g., based on maintaining a minimal distance, can result in control inputs that make the vehicle stop or even reverse. The proposed formulation effectively separates speed control from steering, allowing the vehicle to maintain a forward motion without compromising safety. This is beneficial for ensuring that the vehicle advances towards its desired destination, and it is moreover an underlying requirement for certain vehicles such as marine vessels and fixed-wing UAVs. Theoretical safety guarantees are provided, and numerical simulations demonstrate the efficiency of the strategy in environments containing moving obstacles.

翻译：本文研究了具有一阶非完整约束且保持非零前向速度的车辆在动态环境中的避碰问题。我们利用控制屏障函数（CBF）的概念来综合优先保障安全的控制输入，其中安全准则源自速度障碍原理。现有的基于CBF的避碰实例（例如基于保持最小距离的方法）可能导致车辆停止甚至倒退的控制输入。所提出的公式有效分离了速度控制与转向控制，使车辆能够在保障安全的同时维持前向运动。这对于确保车辆向期望目的地前进十分有利，且对于海洋船舶和固定翼无人机等特定车辆而言是一项基本要求。本文提供了理论安全性保障，数值仿真验证了该策略在含运动障碍物的环境中的有效性。