The reactive touch model: determining which way to move to avoid touching

A preliminary model is presented that can serve as a starting point for more advanced systems. The model shows how touch sensors can be added to arbitrary points on a robot arm and used for providing reactive information, i.e. information about legal directions for movement when sensors are activated. More specifically, the model can provide detailed information about directions in configuration space that lead to decreasing contact between the arm and obstacles. The model is an extension of the D.H. Graf and W.R. LaLonde (1988) neuroplanar architecture