DSEC-Aware: Post-Collision Safety Control of Mobile Manipulators via Directional Energy Constraints

Abstract

In this letter, we introduce a Directionally-aware Dynamic Energy Constraint (DSEC-Aware) framework to enhance energy-based safety control in post-collision human-robot collaboration (HRC). The method employs a selective energy dissipation mechanism, applying variable damping only along critical collision directions to effectively reduce impact forces while preserving user motion intentions in non-critical directions. It further adjusts energy boundaries dynamically according to human-robot proximity and introduces a multidimensional Danger Index (DI) model that incorporates physical parameters such as effective mass, contact stiffness, and human tolerance limits for accurate risk evaluation. Experimental results demonstrate that, compared with state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods, the proposed strategy reduces collision forces by approximately 58.04% and consistently maintains a low and stable collision risk, thereby significantly improving both the safety and practicality of HRC.