SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND METHODS FOR DEVELOPING ROBOT AUTONOMY

1 . A method of operation of a robot, the method comprising:

determining a set of candidate actions to be performed by a first robot based on an objective;

determining a level of autonomy of the first robot from a first control model associated with the first robot;

determining a subset of candidate actions from the set of candidate actions for which the level of autonomy of the first robot is below a threshold level of autonomy;

receiving a set of instructions for at least one candidate action in the subset of candidate actions from a tele-operation system;

executing the set of instructions; and

updating the first control model based on a result of executing the set of instructions.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the objective from the tele-operation system.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the set of candidate actions comprises:

sensing at least one of an event or condition external to the first robot; and

determining the objective in response to the sensed at least one of an event or condition.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting a request for the set of instructions to the tele-operation system in response to determining the subset of candidate actions, wherein the request comprises the subset of candidate actions and ancillary data for the subset of candidate actions.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving at least a portion of the ancillary data from one or more sensors coupled to the first robot.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the subset of candidate actions comprises:

assigning a probability to each of the candidate actions in the set of candidate actions based on expected contribution of the candidate action to the objective;

ranking the set of candidate actions based on the respective probabilities; and

determining the threshold level of autonomy based at least in part on the ranking.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the first control model comprises adjusting the level of autonomy of the first robot based on the result of executing the set of instructions.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the first control model comprises adjusting one or more of a classifier, a model, a policy, an algorithm, a rule, or a parameter of the control model of the first robot based on the result of executing the set of instructions.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating a second control model of a second robot based on the result of executing the instructions.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein updating the second control model comprises transmitting updates to the first control model to the tele-operation system.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions comprises causing a motion actuator coupled to the first robot to execute a movement.

12 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a robot to perform operations comprising:

determining a set of candidate actions to be performed by a first robot based on an objective;

determining a level of autonomy of the first robot from a first control model associated with the first robot;

determining a subset of candidate actions from the set of candidate actions for which the level of autonomy of the first robot is below a threshold level of autonomy;

receiving a set of instructions for at least one candidate action in the subset of candidate actions from a tele-operation system;

executing the set of instructions; and

updating the first control model based on a result of executing the set of instructions.

13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting a request for the set of instructions to the tele-operation system in response to determining the subset of candidate actions, wherein the request comprises the subset of candidate actions and ancillary data for the subset of candidate actions.

14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the objective from the tele-operation system.

15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving sensor data generated from one or more sensors coupled to the first robot; and

determining the objective from the sensor data.

16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein updating the first control model comprises adjusting the level of autonomy of the first robot based on the result of executing the set of instructions.

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein updating the first control model based on the result of executing the set of instructions comprises updating a second control model of a second robot based on the result of executing the set of instructions.

18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein executing the instructions comprises causing a motion actuator coupled to the first robot to execute a movement.

19 . A robot system comprising:

a robot body;

one or more sensors coupled to the robot body and arranged to collect sensor data from an environment of the robot body; and

a robot controller comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for causing the robot controller to perform operations comprising:

determining a set of candidate actions to be performed by the robot based on an objective;

determining a level of autonomy of the robot from a control model associated with the robot;

determining a subset of candidate actions from the set of candidate actions for which the level of autonomy of the robot is below a threshold level of autonomy;

receiving a set of instructions for at least one candidate action in the subset of candidate actions from a tele-operation system;

executing the set of instructions; and

updating the control model based on a result of executing the set of instructions.

20 . The robot system of claim 19 , further comprising at least one physically actuatable component mechanically coupled to the robot body and communicatively coupled to the robot controller, wherein executing the instructions comprises causing the at least one physically actuatable component to execute a movement.