'Obstacle Avoidance' is a behavior where an AI Character steers away from obstacles in its path.

In PandAI, obstacle avoidance is defined as :

aiBehaviors.obstacleAvoidance(float feeler_length)

Feeler length is the range at which the obstacle can be detected by the AI Character

(Note : This does not correspond to actual length in render. The algorithm computes the feeler’s length based on AI Character’s speed and size and also the Obstacle size and the feeler length which is input to it simply a multiplier)

For the algorithm to work, the obstacles need to be added to the world like this :

aiWorld.addObstacle(NodePath  obstacle)

Also you can remove an obstacle at any time needed by using

aiWorld.removeObstacle(NodePath obstacle)

The full working code in Panda3D is :

#for directx window and functions
import direct.directbase.DirectStart
#for most bus3d stuff
from pandac.PandaModules import *
#for directx object support
from direct.showbase.DirectObject import DirectObject
#for tasks
from direct.task import Task
#for Actors
from direct.actor.Actor import Actor
#for Pandai
from panda3d.ai import *
#for Onscreen GUI
from direct.gui.OnscreenText import OnscreenText
 
# Globals
speed = 0.75
 
# Function to put instructions on the screen.
font = loader.loadFont("cmss12")
def addInstructions(pos, msg):
    return OnscreenText(text=msg, style=1, fg=(1,1,1,1), font = font,
                        pos=(-1.3, pos), align=TextNode.ALeft, scale = .05)
 
class World(DirectObject):
 
    def __init__(self):
        base.disableMouse()
        base.cam.setPosHpr(0,0,55,0,-90,0)
 
        self.loadModels()
        self.setAI()
        self.setMovement()
 
    def loadModels(self):
        # Seeker
        ralphStartPos = Vec3(-10, 0, 0)
        self.pursuer = Actor("models/ralph",
                                 {"run":"models/ralph-run"})
        self.pursuer.reparentTo(render)
        self.pursuer.setScale(0.5)
        self.pursuer.setPos(ralphStartPos)
        # Target
        self.target = loader.loadModel("models/arrow")
        self.target.setColor(1,0,0)
        self.target.setPos(5,0,0)
        self.target.setScale(1)
        self.target.reparentTo(render)
        # Obstacle 1
        self.obstacle1 = loader.loadModel("models/arrow")
        self.obstacle1.setColor(0,0,1)
        self.obstacle1.setPos(2,0,0)
        self.obstacle1.setScale(1)
        self.obstacle1.reparentTo(render)
        # Obstacle 2
        self.obstacle2 = loader.loadModel("models/arrow")
        self.obstacle2.setColor(0,0,1)
        self.obstacle2.setPos(5,5,0)
        self.obstacle2.setScale(1)
        self.obstacle2.reparentTo(render)        
 
        self.pursuer.loop("run")
 
    def setAI(self):
        #Creating AI World
        self.AIworld = AIWorld(render)
 
        self.AIchar = AICharacter("pursuer",self.pursuer, 100, 0.05, 5)
        self.AIworld.addAiChar(self.AIchar)
        self.AIbehaviors = self.AIchar.getAiBehaviors()
 
        self.AIbehaviors.pursue(self.target)
 
        # Obstacle avoidance
        self.AIbehaviors.obstacleAvoidance(1.0)
        self.AIworld.addObstacle(self.obstacle1)
        self.AIworld.addObstacle(self.obstacle2)
 
        #AI World update        
        taskMgr.add(self.AIUpdate,"AIUpdate")
 
    #to update the AIWorld    
    def AIUpdate(self,task):
        self.AIworld.update()            
        return Task.cont
 
    #All the movement functions for the Target
    def setMovement(self):
        self.keyMap = {"left":0, "right":0, "up":0, "down":0}
        self.accept("arrow_left", self.setKey, ["left",1])
        self.accept("arrow_right", self.setKey, ["right",1])
        self.accept("arrow_up", self.setKey, ["up",1])
        self.accept("arrow_down", self.setKey, ["down",1])
        self.accept("arrow_left-up", self.setKey, ["left",0])
        self.accept("arrow_right-up", self.setKey, ["right",0])
        self.accept("arrow_up-up", self.setKey, ["up",0])
        self.accept("arrow_down-up", self.setKey, ["down",0])
        #movement task
        taskMgr.add(self.Mover,"Mover")
 
        addInstructions(0.9, "Use the Arrow keys to move the Red Target")
 
    def setKey(self, key, value):
        self.keyMap[key] = value
 
    def Mover(self,task):
        startPos = self.target.getPos()
        if (self.keyMap["left"]!=0):
                self.target.setPos(startPos + Point3(-speed,0,0))
        if (self.keyMap["right"]!=0):
                self.target.setPos(startPos + Point3(speed,0,0))
        if (self.keyMap["up"]!=0):
                self.target.setPos(startPos + Point3(0,speed,0))
        if (self.keyMap["down"]!=0):
                self.target.setPos(startPos + Point3(0,-speed,0))
 
        return Task.cont
 
w = World()
run()

To get the full working demo, please visit :

https://sites.google.com/site/etcpandai/documentation/steering-behaviors/obstacle-avoidance/PandAIObstacleAvoidanceExample.zip?attredirects=0&d=1