Virtual safety cages for robotic devices

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

• receiving an instruction requesting that a robotic device perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device;
• in response to receiving the instruction, determining one or more estimated trajectories of one or more physical components of the robotic device, wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are one or more trajectories along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action, and wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are based on one or more parameters of the one or more physical components;
• determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action, wherein the space is determined based on the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device;
• and
• causing at least one projecting device communicatively linked to the computing device to project, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of the space in the physical environment, the indication visually depicting the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

A system comprising:

• a robotic device;
• one or more projecting devices;
• a wireless communication interface;
• at least one processor;
• and
• data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform functions comprising:
• receiving an instruction requesting that the robotic device perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device;
• in response to receiving the instruction, determining one or more estimated trajectories of one or more physical components of the robotic device, wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are one or more trajectories along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action, and wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are based on one or more parameters of the one or more physical components;
• determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action, wherein the space is determined based on the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device;
• and
• causing the one or more projecting devices to project an indication of a location of the space into the physical environment, the indication visually depicting the determined one or more estimated trajectories.