Mobile robot having collision avoidance system for crossing a road from a pedestrian pathway

A road crossing mobile robot configured to avoid collisions while crossing a road, the mobile robot comprising

• at least one first sensor configured to sense road conditions;
• at least one second sensor configured to sense road conditions;
• and
• a processing component connected to the at least one first sensor and to the at least one second sensor, and configured to:
• detect, from a pedestrian pathway on which the mobile robot is located, that the mobile robot is approaching a road;
• process road conditions sensed by the at least one first sensor;
• initiate road crossing at a pedestrian crossing, if the mobile robot determines that the road conditions are suitable for crossing by the mobile robot;
• process a change in the road conditions sensed by the at least one second sensor indicating a hazardous approaching object while the robot is crossing the road;
• and
• initiate a collision avoidance maneuver, in response to determining that at least one hazardous approaching object is present on the road but outside the pedestrian crossing, and is on a trajectory that intersects a trajectory of the mobile robot within a certain minimum limit;
• wherein:
• the collision avoidance maneuver comprises moving backwards within 0.5 seconds of determining that said at least one hazardous object is present.