Apparatus and methods for semi-autonomous cleaning of surfaces

A method of at least semi-autonomous cleaning of a surface using a cleaning robot having an electronics system configured to control at least a portion of the cleaning robot, the method comprising:

• defining an initial data set representing a map of the surface to be cleaned based on data received at a processor of the electronics system from at least one sensor included in the cleaning robot;
• decomposing, via the processor, the initial data set into a plurality of sector data sets, each sector data set from the plurality of sector data sets representing a sector of the map;
• defining a plurality of intra-sector data sets, each intra-sector data set from the plurality of intra-sector data sets representing an intra-sector path along one sector from the plurality of sectors of the map based at least in part on a calculated efficiency associated with the cleaning robot cleaning a portion of the surface corresponding to that sector from the plurality of sectors;
• and
• defining an inter-sector data set representing an inter-sector path along the map based at least in part on combining each intra-sector path to collectively define the inter-sector path and a calculated efficiency associated with the cleaning robot moving on the surface and substantially along the inter-sector path to clean the surface.