Efficient coverage planning of mobile robotic devices

A robot, comprising:

• a chassis;
• a set of wheels coupled to the chassis;
• a set of sensors;
• a processor;
• and
• a tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable media storing instructions that when executed by the processor of the robot effectuates operations comprising:
• capturing, with at least one sensor, data indicative of operational hazards within a work environment;
• generating, with the processor, a map of the work environment based on data obtained from at least some sensors of the robot;
• determining, with the processor, an object type of an operational hazard based on extracted features of the operational hazard and a database of various object types and their features;
• generating, with the processor, a coverage plan for areas of the work environment;
• executing, with the robot, the coverage plan, wherein the processor alters the coverage plan causing the robot to maneuver around a detected operational hazard in a path of the robot;
• receiving, with the processor, information from an application of a communication device paired with the robot, wherein the application is configured to receive at least one input designating:
• a schedule of the robot, a command to clean, preferences in different areas of the work environment, a command to navigate to a particular location, and a command to clean a particular area;
• actuating, with the processor, the robot to implement the information received capturing, with a sensor, debris data indicative of at least presence and absence of debris in locations within the work environment;
• and
• determining, with the processor, areas of the work environment with a high presence of debris, wherein:
• the map is updated to distinguish the areas with the high presence of debris and the areas with the low presence of debris;
• and
• the coverage plan prioritizes cleaning the areas of the work environment with high presence of debris over areas of the work environment with low presence of debris.