Safe path planning for collaborative robots

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a robotic system to perform functions comprising:

• determining a safety level for each of a plurality of relative orientations of an object, wherein each relative orientation of the plurality of relative orientations defines a spatial orientation of the object relative to a direction of movement of the object;
• based on the determined safety levels, determining, for each of the plurality of relative orientations, a velocity limit for movement of the object with a particular relative orientation;
• based at least in part on the determined velocity limits, determining a path for moving the object from a first location to a second location;
• and
• moving the object from the first location to the second location based on the determined path.

A robotic system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a non-transitory computer readable medium;
• and
• program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the one or more processors to:
• determine a safety level for each of a plurality of relative orientations of an object, wherein each relative orientation of the plurality of relative orientations defines a spatial orientation of the object relative to a direction of movement of the object;
• based on the determined safety levels, determine, for each of the plurality of relative orientations, a velocity limit for movement of the object with a particular relative orientation;
• based at least in part on the determined velocity limits, determine a path for moving the object from a first location to a second location;
• and
• move the object from the first location to the second location based on the determined path.