Ground clutter avoidance for a mobile robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12449822-B2
Application number	US-202318337933-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2023
Priority date	Jun 23, 2022
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for navigating a robot along a route through an environment, the route being associated with a mission, are provided. The method comprises identifying, based on sensor data received by one or more sensors of the robot, a set of potential obstacles in the environment, determining, based at least in part on stored data indicating a set of footfall locations of the robot during a previous execution of the mission, that at least one of the potential obstacles in the set is an obstacle, and navigating the robot to avoid stepping on the obstacle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of navigating a robot along a route through an environment, the route being associated with a mission, the method comprising:
identifying, based on sensor data received by one or more sensors of the robot, a set of potential obstacles in the environment;
determining, based at least in part on stored data indicating a set of footfall locations of the robot during a previous execution of the mission, that at least one of the potential obstacles in the set is an obstacle;
wherein determining, based at least in part on the stored data indicating the set of footfall locations of the robot during the previous execution of the mission, that at least one of the potential obstacles in the set is an obstacle comprises, for each of the potential obstacles in the set comprises:
determining, based on the set of footfall locations, whether the robot stepped on the potential obstacle during the previous execution of the mission; and
determining that the potential obstacle is an obstacle when it is determined that the robot did not step on the potential obstacle during the previous execution of the mission; and
navigating the robot to avoid stepping on the obstacle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data comprises image data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data comprises point cloud data representing distances to objects in the environment.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the sensor data to generate a terrain map of the environment,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the terrain map.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
segmenting the terrain map to generate a segmented map,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the segmented map.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein segmenting the terrain map comprises:
detecting at least one boundary in the terrain map; and
detecting at least one surface in the terrain map,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the at least one boundary and the at least one surface.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the detected at least one boundary and the detected at least one surface comprises:
identifying a set of segments in the segmented map that include at least one boundary connected to at least one detected surface; and
including in the set of potential obstacles, objects associated with at least some of the segments in the set of segments.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
discarding, from the set of segments, segments having a size below a threshold size; and
including in the set of potential obstacles, objects associated with segments having a size above the threshold size.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the set of footfall locations comprises upcoming footfall locations along a portion of the route that the robot has not yet traversed, and
determining, based on the set of footfall locations, whether the robot stepped on the potential obstacle during the previous execution of the mission comprises determining whether the robot stepped on the potential obstacle based on one or more of the upcoming footfall locations along the route that the robot has not yet traversed.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, based on the sensor data, a set of one or more large obstacles in the environment of the robot;
adding the obstacle to the set of one or more large obstacles; and
navigating the robot to avoid stepping on all of the obstacles in the set of one or more large obstacles.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a height of the obstacle is less than 30 cm.

12. The method of claim 1 , where the previous execution of the mission corresponds to an execution of the mission when the mission was recorded during operation of the robot by an operator.

13. A legged robot, comprising:
a perception system including one or more sensors configured to sense sensor data;
at least one computer processor configured to:
identify, based on the sensor data, a set of potential obstacles in an environment;
and determine, based at least in part on stored data indicating a set of footfall locations of the legged robot during a previous execution of a mission, that at least one of the potential obstacles in the set is an obstacle;
wherein determining, based at least in part on the stored data indicating the set of footfall locations of the robot during the previous execution of the mission, that at least one of the potential obstacles in the set is an obstacle comprises, for each of the potential obstacles in the set comprises:
determining, based on the set of footfall locations, whether the legged robot stepped on the potential obstacle during the previous execution of the mission; and
determining that the potential obstacle is an obstacle when it is determined that the legged robot did not step on the potential obstacle during the previous execution of the mission; and
a navigation system configured to navigate the legged robot to avoid stepping on the obstacle.

14. The legged robot of claim 13 , wherein the sensor data comprises image data.

15. The legged robot of claim 13 , wherein the sensor data comprises point cloud data representing distances to objects in the environment.

16. The legged robot of claim 13 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
process the sensor data to generate a terrain map of the environment,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the terrain map.

17. The legged robot of claim 16 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
segment the terrain map to generate a segmented map,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the segmented map.

18. The legged robot of claim 17 , wherein segmenting the terrain map comprises:
detecting at least one boundary in the terrain map; and
detecting at least one surface in the terrain map,
wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the at least one boundary and the at least one surface.

19. The legged robot of claim 18 , wherein identifying the set of potential obstacles in the environment is based, at least in part, on the detected at least one boundary and the detected at least one surface comprises:
identifying a set of segments in the segmented map that include at least one boundary connected to at least one detected surface; and
including in the set of potential obstacles, objects associated with at least some of the segments in the set of segments.

20. The legged robot of claim 19 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
discard, from the set of segments, segments having a size below a threshold size; and
include in the set of potential obstacles, objects associated with segments having a size above the threshold size.

21. The legged robot of claim 13 , wherein
the set of footfall locations comprises upcoming footfall locations along a portion of a route that the legged robot has not yet traversed, and
determining, based on the set of footfall locations, whether the legged robot stepped on the potential

Assignees

• Boston Dynamics Inc

Inventors

• Komoroski Adam
• Yamauchi Brian
• Klingensmith Matthew

Classifications

• G05D1/628

  following the obstacle profile, e.g. a wall or undulated terrain · CPC title

• G05D1/617

  Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards (arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80) · CPC title

• G05D1/43

  Control of position or course in two dimensions [2D] · CPC title

• G06T2207/30261

  Obstacle · CPC title

• G06T2207/10028

  Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds · CPC title