De-centralized traffic-aware navigational planning for mobile robots

A mobile robot, comprising:

• a memory storing an occupancy map for a facility, the occupancy map defining:
• (i) for each of a plurality of regions in the facility, a current occupancy corresponding to a present time value, and
• (ii) for each of at least a subset of the regions, a future occupancy corresponding to a time value subsequent to the present time value;
• a locomotive assembly;
• a sensor;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• generate a path for the mobile robot from a current pose of the mobile robot in the facility to a target pose, based on the current occupancies and the future occupancies;
• cause the locomotive assembly to execute the path and cause the sensor to capture sensor data along the path representing a vicinity of the mobile robot;
• detect one or more obstacles from the sensor data;
• in response to determining that the path is blocked, select an obstacle having a previously detected location outside a current field of view of the sensor;
• generate an observational path to bring the previously detected location of the selected obstacle into the field of view of the sensor;
• and
• transmit occupancy data for generating an updated occupancy map including an updated future occupancy for at least one of the subset of the regions, the occupancy data including (i) obstacle data indicating a location of the obstacle, and (ii) path data defining the path;
• wherein the future occupancy indicates a future presence of another mobile robot at the corresponding region.

A method, comprising:

• generating a path for a mobile robot from a current pose of the mobile robot in a facility to a target location, based on an occupancy map for the facility, the occupancy map defining a current occupancy for each of a plurality of regions in the facility;
• causing the mobile robot to execute the path;
• during execution of the path, detecting obstacles from sensor data captured via a sensor of the mobile robot, and storing detected locations of the obstacles;
• in response to determining that the path is blocked, selecting a detected obstacle with a previously detected location outside a current field of view of the sensor;
• generating an observational path for the mobile robot that brings the previously detected location of the selected obstacle into the current field of view of the sensor;
• during execution of the observational path, capturing further sensor data by the sensor and determining from the further sensor data whether the previously detected location remains obstructed;
• and
• modifying execution of the path based on whether the previously detected location remains obstructed;
• wherein the occupancy map further defines, for each of a subset of the regions, a future occupancy indicating a future presence of another mobile robot at the corresponding region.

A mobile robot, comprising:

• a locomotive assembly;
• a sensor;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• generate a path from a current pose of a mobile robot in a facility to a target location, based on an occupancy map for the facility, the occupancy map defining a current occupancy for each of a plurality of regions in the facility;
• control the locomotive assembly to execute the path;
• during execution of the path, detect obstacles from sensor data captured via the sensor, and store detected locations of the obstacles;
• in response to determining that the path is blocked, select a detected obstacle with a previously detected location outside a current field of view of the sensor;
• generate an observational path to bring the previously detected location of the selected obstacle into the current field of view of the sensor;
• during execution of the observational path, capture further sensor data and determine from the further sensor data whether the previously detected location remains obstructed;
• and
• modify execution of the path based on whether the previously detected location remains obstructed;
• wherein the occupancy map further defines, for each of a subset of the regions, a future occupancy indicating a future presence of another mobile robot at the corresponding region.