# US 12,759,154 B2 · Systems and methods for safe operation of robots > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,759,154 B2 - Document ID: US12759154B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/471,951 - Filed: 2023-09-21 - Published: 2024-03-28 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2022-09-22 - Assignees: Boston Dynamics, Inc. - Applicants: Boston Dynamics, Inc. - Inventors: John Aaron Saunders; Michael Murphy - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12759154B2 ## CPC - B25J 9/1676: {Avoiding collision or forbidden zones} - B25J 9/162: {Mobile manipulator, movable base with manipulator arm mounted on it} - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) ## Abstract Methods and apparatus for implementing a safety system for a mobile robot are described. The method comprises receiving first sensor data from one or more sensors, the first sensor data being captured at a first time, identifying, based on the first sensor data, a first unobserved portion of a safety field in an environment of a mobile robot, assigning, to each of a plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, an occupancy state, updating, at a second time after the first time, the occupancy state of one or more of the plurality of contiguous regions, and determining one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot, the one or more operating parameters based, at least in part, on the occupancy state of at least some regions of the plurality of contiguous regions at the second time. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: receiving first sensor data from one or more sensors, the first sensor data being captured at a first time; identifying, based on the first sensor data, a first unobserved portion of a safety field in an environment of a mobile robot, wherein the first unobserved portion of the safety field corresponds to a portion of the safety field that the one or more sensors cannot observe at the first time due to a first occlusion; assigning, to each region of a plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, an occupancy state; updating, at a second time after the first time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field; determining, by a computing device, one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot, the one or more operating parameters based, at least in part, on the occupancy state of at least some regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field at the second time; and controlling the mobile robot to operate according to the one or more operating parameters. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the safety field defines a plane surrounding the mobile robot, and the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field are two-dimensional (2D) regions arranged within the plane. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the safety field defines a volume surrounding the mobile robot, and the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field are three-dimensional (3D) regions arranged within the volume. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion include a first region and a second region, the second region being closer to the mobile robot than the first region within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, and assigning an occupancy state to each of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field comprises: assigning an occupied state to the first region; and assigning an unoccupied state to the second region. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying, based on the first sensor data, an entity in the safety field; determining based on information about the entity, whether the entity is a whitelisted entity; and ignoring, when it is determined that the entity is a whitelisted entity, a presence of the entity within the safety field when determining the one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the information about the entity includes information identifying the entity with a particular confidence level, and the entity is determined as a whitelisted entity only when the particular confidence level is above a threshold confidence level. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field comprises: assigning an occupied state to a first region of the plurality of contiguous regions, the first region having an unoccupied state at the first time, wherein the first region is located adjacent to a second region having an occupied state at the first time. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field further comprises: determining based on an entity speed for an entity associated with the second region at the first time, whether it is possible for the entity associated with the second region at the first time to have travelled into the first region at the second time; and assigning an occupied state to the first region only when it is determined that it is possible for the entity associated with the second region at the first time to have travelled into the first region at the second time. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field comprises: assigning an occupied state to a third region of the plurality of contiguous regions, the third region having an unoccupied state at the first time, wherein the third region is located adjacent to the first region and is not located adjacent to the second region. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving at or before the second time, second sensor data from the one or more sensors; and identifying, based on the second sensor data, a second unobserved portion of the safety field at the second time, wherein the second unobserved portion of the safety field corresponds to a portion of the safety field that the one or more sensors cannot observe at the second time due to a second occlusion, wherein updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field is based on an overlap between the first unobserved portion and the second unobserved portion. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field based on an overlap between the first unobserved portion and the second unobserved portion comprises: assigning an unoccupied state to a first region of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field having an occupied state at the first time when the first region is not within the second unobserved portion of the safety field. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field include a first region and a second region, the first region having an occupied state at the first time and the second region having an unoccupied state at the first time, the second region being adjacent to the first region in the first unobserved portion of the safety field; and updating, at the second time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field based on an overlap between the first unobserved portion and the second unobserved portion comprises: assigning an occupied state to the second region when the second region is included within the second unobserved portion of the safety field. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein determining one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot comprises instructing the mobile robot to move at least a portion of the mobile robot to enable the one or more sensors to sense a presence or an absence of entities in the first region at the second time. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot comprises one or more of: determining a trajectory plan for an arm of the mobile robot, instructing the mobile robot to alter a speed of motion of at least a portion of the mobile robot, or determining the one or more operating parameters further based, at least in part, on a distance between the mobile robot and a first region of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field having an occupied state at the second time. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein assigning, to each region of a plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, an occupancy state comprises: assigning an occupied state to at least one region of the plurality of contiguous regions at a boundary of the safety field within the first unobserved portion of the safety field. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one first sensor coupled to the mobile robot and at least one second sensor not coupled to the mobile robot, and the first unobserved portion of the safety field includes a portion of the safety field not observable by the at least one first sensor or the at least one second sensor. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the safety field includes a restricted zone around the mobile robot and a monitored zone located outside of the restricted zone, the method further comprising: detecting an entity located in the monitored zone that has not yet entered the restricted zone; determining whether the entity is an entity of concern; and determining the one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot based, at least in part, on whether the entity is an entity of concern. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: determining whether the entity is moving toward the restricted zone, wherein determining the one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot is further based, at least in part, on whether the entity is moving toward the restricted zone. ### Claim 19 A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, by at least one computer processor, perform a method of: identifying, based on first sensor data received from one or more sensors, a first unobserved portion of a safety field in an environment of a mobile robot, the first sensor data being captured at a first time, wherein the first unobserved portion of the safety field corresponds to a portion of the safety field that the one or more sensors cannot observe at the first time due to a first occlusion; assigning, to each region of a plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, an occupancy state; updating, at a second time after the first time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field; determining one or more operating parameters for a mobile robot, the one or more operating parameters based, at least in part, on the occupancy state of at least some regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field at the second time; and controlling the mobile robot to operate according to the one or more operating parameters. ### Claim 20 A mobile robot, comprising: one or more sensors configured to sense first sensor data at a first time; and at least one computer processor programmed to perform a method of: identifying, based on the first sensor data, a first unobserved portion of a safety field in an environment of the mobile robot, wherein the first unobserved portion of the safety field corresponds to a portion of the safety field that the one or more sensors cannot observe at the first time due to a first occlusion; assigning, to each region of a plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field, an occupancy state; updating, at a second time after the first time, the occupancy state of one or more regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field; determining one or more operating parameters for the mobile robot, the one or more operating parameters based, at least in part, on the occupancy state of at least some regions of the plurality of contiguous regions within the first unobserved portion of the safety field at the second time; and controlling the mobile robot to operate according to the one or more operating parameters.