Abstract: A real-time collision avoidance algorithm for 7-DOF redundant manipulator was proposed to solve the problem of avoidance in a dynamic obstacle environment. In this paper, the traditional complex obstacle avoidance planning of the manipulator was transformed into the motion planning of obstacle avoidance guidance for a single rod. First, the location relationship between the rod and the obstacle was used to determine the main and secondary dangerous rods. Then, real-time avoidance plan was implemented to guide the manipulator to move towards the target point while avoiding obstacles quickly. After obstacle avoidance was completed, on the basis of the self-motion inverse solution, the optimal configuration solution of the self-motion solution set was determined by the potential index of safe distance, and the reaching point movement was carried out. Results show that the new algorithm can avoid obstacles in time in both dynamic and static environments. In the process of obstacle avoidance, the average single-step iterative operation time is 25 ms, which is far less than the traditional obstacle avoidance algorithm and verifies the real time and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.