Systems and methods for process tending with a robot arm

A method for operating a self-driving vehicle to avoid collisions while navigating to a waypoint during process tending, the method comprising:

• operating the self-driving vehicle having at least one vehicle safety sensor and a vehicle control system in communication with the at least one vehicle safety sensor, the self-driving vehicle carrying a robot arm and at least one robot arm safety sensor;
• operating a robot arm control system in communication with the at least one robot arm safety sensor;
• and
• when the self-driving vehicle is in motion, operating the vehicle control system and the robot arm control system in:
• a first mode, during which the method comprises operating the robot arm control system to prevent the robot arm from moving outside a perimeter of the self-driving vehicle and operating the vehicle control system to control the self-driving vehicle based on at least one vehicle safety sensor;
• and
• a second mode, during which the method comprises operating the robot arm control system to allow the robot arm to move outside the perimeter of the self-driving vehicle and operating the vehicle control system to control the self-driving vehicle based on the at least one robot arm safety sensor and the at least one vehicle safety sensor.