Constrained mobility mapping

A method comprising:

• receiving, at data processing hardware, original sensor data corresponding to an environment about a robot from at least one sensor of the robot, the robot comprising a body;
• generating, by the data processing hardware, a voxel map comprising a plurality of voxels based on the original sensor data, the plurality of voxels comprising at least one ground voxel and at least one obstacle voxel;
• receiving, by the data processing hardware, a spherical depth map generated based on a current set of sensor data corresponding to the environment about the robot;
• comparing, by the data processing hardware, one or more vertical columns of the voxel map to one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• determining, by the data processing hardware, that a change has occurred to an object represented by the at least one obstacle voxel of the voxel map based on the comparison between the one or more vertical columns of the voxel map and the one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• updating, by the data processing hardware, the voxel map to reflect the change to the object;
• based on the updated voxel map, generating, by the data processing hardware, a body obstacle map configured to indicate locations in the environment where the body of the robot is capable of moving without interference with an obstacle in the environment, the body obstacle map divided into cells, wherein a plurality of the cells comprise an indication of a nearest obstacle boundary, the nearest obstacle boundary derived from the at least one obstacle voxel of the updated voxel map;
• and
• communicating, by the data processing hardware, the body obstacle map to a control system, the control system configured to move the robot about the environment.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at data processing hardware, original sensor data corresponding to an environment about a robot from at least one sensor of the robot, the robot comprising a body and legs, each leg comprising a distal end;
• generating, by the data processing hardware, a voxel map comprising a plurality of segments based on the original sensor data, each segment of the plurality of segments corresponding to a vertical column defined by one or more voxels, the plurality of segments comprising at least one ground segment and at least one obstacle segment;
• receiving, by the data processing hardware, a spherical depth map generated based on a current set of sensor data corresponding to the environment about the robot;
• comparing, by the data processing hardware, one or more vertical columns of the voxel map to one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• determining, by the data processing hardware, that a change has occurred to an object represented by the at least one obstacle segment of the voxel map based on the comparison between the one or more vertical columns of the voxel map and the one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• updating, by the data processing hardware, the voxel map to reflect the change to the object;
• based on the updated voxel map, generating, by the data processing hardware, a ground height map configured to indicate heights to place the distal end of a respective leg of the robot when the robot is moving about the environment, the ground height map divided into cells, wherein at least one cell corresponds to a respective ground segment and comprises a respective height based on the respective ground segment;
• and
• communicating, by the data processing hardware, the ground height map to a control system, the control system configured to move the distal end of the respective leg to a placement location in the environment based on the ground height map.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at data processing hardware, original sensor data corresponding to an environment about a robot from at least one sensor of the robot, the robot comprising a body and legs, each leg comprising a distal end;
• generating, by the data processing hardware, a voxel map comprising a plurality of segments based on the original sensor data, each segment of the plurality of segments corresponding to a vertical column defined by one or more voxels, the plurality of segments comprising at least one ground segment and at least one obstacle segment;
• receiving, by the data processing hardware, a spherical depth map generated based on a current set of sensor data corresponding to the environment about the robot;
• comparing, by the data processing hardware, one or more vertical columns of the voxel map to one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• determining, by the data processing hardware, that a change has occurred to an object represented by the at least one obstacle segment of the voxel map based on the comparison between the one or more vertical columns of the voxel map and the one or more corresponding vertical columns of the spherical depth map;
• updating, by the data processing hardware, the voxel map to reflect the change to the object;
• based on the updated voxel map, generating, by the data processing hardware, a ground height map configured to indicate heights to place the distal end of a respective leg of the robot when the robot is moving about the environment;
• based on the ground height map, generating, by the data processing hardware, a no step map comprising one or more no step regions, each no step region configured to indicate a region not to place the distal end of a respective leg of the robot when the robot is moving about the environment, the no step map divided into cells, wherein each cell comprises a distance value and a directional vector, the distance value indicating a distance to a boundary of a nearest obstacle to a cell, the directional vector indicating a direction to the boundary of the nearest obstacle to the cell;
• and
• communicating, by the data processing hardware, the no step map to a control system, the control system configured to move the distal end of the respective leg to a placement location in the environment based on the no step map.