Managing and tracking scouting tasks using autonomous vehicles

A method of managing and tracking scouting tasks to obtain map information using a fleet of autonomous vehicles, the method comprising;

• defining, by one or more computing devices, a scouting quest to obtain the map information, the scouting quest including a plurality of scouting objectives, each scouting objective of the plurality of scouting objectives being associated with a geographic location at which sensor data is to be captured;
• receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a first update message from an autonomous vehicle of the fleet, the first update message identifying a current location of the autonomous vehicle;
• identifying, by the one or more computing devices, from the plurality of scouting objectives, scouting objectives that have been pending without being visited by at least one of the fleet of autonomous vehicles;
• assigning, by the one or more computing devices, the identified scouting objectives to the autonomous vehicle based on the current location of the autonomous vehicle;
• sending, by the one or more computing devices, instructions to the autonomous vehicle in order to cause the autonomous vehicle to autonomously complete the identified scouting objectives;
• and
• after sending the instructions, tracking, by the one or more computing devices, a status of the scouting quest.