Augmented reality system and method for conveying to a human operator information associated with human-imperceptible indicia within an operating environment of a robot

A robotic system comprising:

• a robot;
• human-imperceptible indicia associated with an object within an environment in which the robot operates, the human-imperceptible indicia comprising interaction information directly thereon pertaining to a predetermined intended interaction of the robot with the object, the interaction information being operable to facilitate interaction with the object by the robot in accordance with the predetermined intended interaction;
• at least one sensor operable to sense the human-imperceptible indicia and the interaction information;
• and
• an augmented reality system comprising a computer, the augmented reality system in communication with the robot, and operable to convey human-understandable information associated with the interaction information to a human operator,
• wherein the augmented reality system further comprises translation software operable to translate the human-imperceptible indicia and the interaction information perceived by the at least one sensor into the human-understandable information, and to transmit the human-understandable information to the visual display.

A method for deploying a robot, as part of an augmented reality platform, within a machine navigable environment, the method comprising:

• identifying a desired space in which the robot will operate;
• selecting one or more objects that are or will be located in the space;
• marking the one or more objects with human-imperceptible indicia being machine-readable, the human-imperceptible indicia comprising at least one of interaction information or linking information that links to a database comprising interaction information;
• introducing the robot into the space, the robot being capable of movement within the space;
• operating an augmented reality system in communication with the robot, the augmented reality system comprising a computer, and operable to convey human-understandable information to a human operator, the human-understandable information corresponding to at least one of the interaction information, the linked interaction information, or the linking information;
• causing the robot to sense the human-imperceptible indicia;
• translating at least one of the interaction information, the linked interaction information, or the linking information into the human-understandable information;
• conveying the human-understandable information to the human operator;
• and
• facilitating interaction with the one or more objects by the robot in accordance with the human-understandable information.