The present invention provides an obstacle avoiding apparatus, an obstacle
avoiding method, an obstacle avoiding program, and a mobile robot
apparatus that can accurately model a robot apparatus and plan a highly
precise moving route for the robot apparatus that avoids obstacles. The
obstacle avoiding apparatus, to be used for a mobile robot apparatus to
avoid obstacles, includes an obstacle environment map drawing section
that divides the range of height from the reference surface for the
mobile robot apparatus to move thereon to the height of the mobile robot
apparatus into a plurality of layers corresponding to predetermined
respective ranges of height and draws obstacle environment maps, each
showing the condition of being occupied by one or more than one obstacles
existing in the corresponding layer, and a route planning section that
plans a route for the robot apparatus to move along according to an
enlarged environment map prepared by enlarging the area occupied by the
obstacle or obstacles in the obstacle environment maps as a function of
the cross sectional profile of the mobile robot apparatus in each of the
layers.