This paper proposes a novel conceptual approach based on fuzzy logic to sol
ve the local navigation and obstacle avoidance problem for industrial 3-dof
robotic manipulators. The proposed system is divided into separate fuzzy u
nits, which control individually each manipulator link. The fuzzy rule-base
of each unit combines a repelling influence, which is related to the dista
nce between the manipulator and the nearby obstacles, with the attracting i
nfluence produced by the angular difference, between the actual and the fin
al manipulator configuration, to generate a new actuating command for each
link. It can be considered as an on-line local navigation method for the ge
neration of instantaneous collision-free trajectories. The strategy has bee
n successfully applied to manipulators in different simulated workspace env
ironments providing collision-free paths. Some of the simulation results ob
tained are included.