Robotic virtual boundaries

1. A method for operating a robot comprising:

detecting a physical boundary marker using sensors on the robot;

indicating a virtual boundary corresponding to a location of the physical boundary marker on an area map for the robot;

maintaining the virtual boundary when the physical boundary marker is subsequently removed;

avoiding, by the robot, an area beyond the virtual boundary;

detecting a gap between the physical boundary marker or the virtual boundary and an adjacent wall; and

extending the virtual boundary to the adjacent wall.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication of the virtual boundary on the area map from a user.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

developing the area map during a training run of the robot and providing the area map to a user before receiving the indication of the virtual boundary.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

traveling, during the training run, a distance and pattern sufficient for generating the area map, without traveling a full distance and pattern required to clean the areas indicated on the area map.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing the virtual boundary to a remote server in the global coordinates of the area map;

downloading the virtual boundary to the robot;

converting, by the robot, the virtual boundary in global coordinates into segments by segmenting the virtual boundary into a plurality of line segments corresponding to a plurality of partial maps; and

comparing, by the robot, the line segment to a current partial map to determine the virtual boundary for the current partial map.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the physical boundary marker is one of a magnetic strip, an IR beam, a bar code, a QR code, a color strip, an IR detectable label, or a visual pattern.

7. A method for operating a robot comprising:

detecting a physical boundary marker using sensors on the robot;

indicating a virtual boundary corresponding to a location of the physical boundary marker on an area map for the robot;

maintaining the virtual boundary when the physical boundary marker is subsequently removed;

avoiding, by the robot, an area beyond the virtual boundary

determining that the robot can move a different distance from an object behind the virtual boundary than the virtual boundary; and

adjusting the virtual boundary to be a different distance from the object.

8. A non-transitory, computer readable medium for mounting on a robot, comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

detect a physical boundary marker using sensors on the robot;

indicate a virtual boundary corresponding to a location of the physical boundary marker on an area map for the robot;

maintain the virtual boundary when the physical boundary marker is subsequently removed;

avoid, by the robot, an area beyond the virtual boundary

detecting a gap between the physical boundary marker or the virtual boundary and an adjacent wall; and

extending the virtual boundary to the adjacent wall.

9. A non-transitory, computer readable medium for mounting on a robot, comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

detect a physical boundary marker using sensors on the robot;

indicate a virtual boundary corresponding to a location of the physical boundary marker on an area map for the robot;

maintain the virtual boundary when the physical boundary marker is subsequently removed;

avoid, by the robot, an area beyond the virtual boundary;

determining that the robot can move a different distance from an object behind the virtual boundary than the virtual boundary; and

adjusting the virtual boundary to be a different distance from the object.

10. A cleaning robot, comprising:

a floor-traversing robot;

a robot housing of the floor-traversing robot;

a motor mounted in a housing for moving the floor-traversing robot;

a battery connected to provide electrical power to the motor;

a sensor mounted in the robot for detecting surroundings;

a processor mounted in the robot;

a memory in the robot;

a localization module in the robot;

non-transitory, computer-readable code in the memory having instructions for:

detecting a physical boundary marker using sensors on the robot;

indicating a virtual boundary corresponding to a location of the physical boundary marker on an area map for the robot;

maintaining the virtual boundary when the physical boundary marker is subsequently removed;

avoiding, by the robot, an area beyond the virtual boundary;

detecting a gap between the physical boundary marker or the virtual boundary and an adjacent wall; and

extending the virtual boundary to the adjacent wall.

11. The cleaning robot of claim 10 wherein the non-transitory, computer-readable code in the memory has further instructions for:

providing the virtual boundary to a remote server in global coordinates of the area map;

downloading the virtual boundary to the robot;

converting, by the robot, the virtual boundary in global coordinates into segments by segmenting the virtual boundary into a plurality of line segments corresponding to a plurality of partial maps; and

comparing, by the robot, the line segment to a current partial map to determine the virtual boundary for the current partial map.

12. The cleaning robot of claim 10 wherein the non-transitory, computer-readable code in the memory has further instructions for:

developing the area map during a training run of the robot and providing the area map to a user; and

receiving an indication of a virtual boundary on the area map from the user.