Operational State Detection for Obstacles in Mobile Robots

1 . A method, comprising:

capturing, using a sensor of a mobile robot, sensor data representing a physical environment of the mobile robot;

detecting, from the sensor data, an obstacle in the physical environment;

responsive to detecting the obstacle, determining from the sensor data whether the obstacle exhibits a predetermined attribute;

assigning an operational state to the obstacle, according to the determination;

selecting a navigational constraint based on the assigned operational state; and

controlling a locomotive assembly of the mobile robot to navigate the physical environment based on the selected navigational constraint.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the obstacle includes detecting a location of the obstacle, and a type of the obstacle selected from a plurality of obstacle types.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

storing, in a memory of the mobile robot, an association between a definition of the predetermined attribute and the detected type of the obstacle.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

prior to determining whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute, retrieving the definition of the predetermined attribute according to the detected type of the obstacle.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the operational state to the obstacle includes:

assigning a first operational state when the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute; and

assigning a second operational state when the obstacle does not exhibit the predetermined attribute.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining from the sensor data whether the obstacle exhibits a further predetermined attribute;

wherein assigning the operational state to the obstacle is further according to the determination of whether the obstacle exhibits the further predetermined attribute.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the navigational constraint includes a maximum travel velocity for the mobile robot.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the navigational constraint defines a distance from the obstacle to be maintained during navigation of the physical environment.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute includes determining whether a human is physically associated with the obstacle.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute includes determining whether a movable component of the obstacle is in a predetermined position relative to the obstacle.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute includes determining whether a light emitter of the obstacle is activated.

12 . A computing device, comprising:

a sensor; and

a processor configured to:

capture, using the sensor, sensor data representing a physical environment of a mobile robot;

detect, from the sensor data, an obstacle in the physical environment;

responsive to detecting the obstacle, determine from the sensor data whether the obstacle exhibits a predetermined attribute;

assign an operational state to the obstacle, according to the determination;

select a navigational constraint based on the assigned operational state; and

control a locomotive assembly of the mobile robot to navigate the physical environment based on the selected navigational constraint.

13 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to detect the obstacle by detecting a location of the obstacle, and a type of the obstacle selected from a plurality of obstacle types.

14 . The computing device of claim 13 , further comprising:

a memory storing an association between a definition of the predetermined attribute and the detected type of the obstacle.

15 . The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

prior to determining whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute, retrieve the definition of the predetermined attribute according to the detected type of the obstacle.

16 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to assign the operational state to the obstacle by:

assigning a first operational state when the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute; and

assigning a second operational state when the obstacle does not exhibit the predetermined attribute.

17 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine from the sensor data whether the obstacle exhibits a further predetermined attribute; and

assign the operational state to the obstacle according to the determination of whether the obstacle exhibits the further predetermined attribute.

18 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the navigational constraint includes a maximum travel velocity for the mobile robot.

19 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the navigational constraint defines a distance from the obstacle to be maintained during navigation of the physical environment.

20 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute by determining whether a human is physically associated with the obstacle.

21 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute by determining whether a movable component of the obstacle is in a predetermined position relative to the obstacle.

22 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the obstacle exhibits the predetermined attribute by determining whether a light emitter of the obstacle is activated.