Systems and methods for managing a semantic map in a mobile robot

A system, comprising:

• a mobile robot, including:
• a drive system configured to move the mobile robot about an environment;
• a sensor circuit configured to sense occupancy information in the environment;
• a memory;
• a communication system;
• and
• a controller circuit configured to:
• generate, and store in the memory, a first semantic map corresponding to a first mission of the mobile robot in the environment using first occupancy information and first semantic annotations, the first semantic annotations representing spatial and contextual information of objects in the environment corresponding to the first mission;
• and
• transfer the first semantic annotations from the first semantic map to a second semantic map, the second semantic map corresponding to a second mission of the mobile robot in the environment subsequent to the first mission;
• generate the second semantic map using second occupancy information and the second semantic annotations, the second semantic annotations representing spatial and contextual information of objects in the environment and being generated using the transferred first semantic annotations;
• and
• determine whether or not to update the first semantic map based on a comparison between the first and the second semantic maps;
• and
• a user interface communicatively coupled to the mobile robot, the user interface configured to display the first or second semantic map, and to receive user feedback on the first or the second semantic map.

A method for operating a mobile robot, the method comprising:

• providing to a user a first semantic map stored in a memory, the first semantic map corresponding to a first mission of the mobile robot in the environment, the first semantic map including first occupancy information and first semantic annotations, the first semantic annotations representing spatial and contextual information of objects in the environment;
• providing to the user a second semantic map corresponding to a second mission of the mobile robot in the environment subsequent to the first mission, the second semantic map including second occupancy information and second semantic annotations, the second semantic annotations representing spatial and contextual information of objects in the environment;
• receiving an input from the user to modify the first semantic annotations on the first semantic map, or to modify the second semantic annotations on the second semantic map;
• updating the first semantic map based on a comparison between the second semantic map and the first semantic map;
• and
• storing the updated first semantic map in the memory for use in future missions of the mobile robot.