Methods and systems for providing landmarks to facilitate robot localization and visual odometry

A method, comprising:

• determining, by a computing device, that at least one area of a physical environment in which a robotic device resides includes one or more surfaces that lack sufficient discernable features to determine a location of the at least one area in the physical environment;
• determining a classification for the one or more surfaces of the at least one area, wherein the classification is representative of (i) a type of surface of the one or more surfaces and (ii) a type of texture of the one or more surfaces;
• based on the classification, determining at least one type of pattern to be provided by the robotic device onto the one or more surfaces;
• and
• in response to determining the at least one type of pattern, providing instructions to the robotic device to provide a material in respective patterns of the at least one type of pattern onto the one or more surfaces, wherein the respective patterns include sufficient discernable features to determine a location of the at least one area in the physical environment, and wherein the material is predicted to remain on the one or more surfaces for a predetermined period of time.

A robotic device, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
• acquiring at least one image of one or more surfaces of at least one area of a physical environment in which a robotic device resides;
• engaging in an attempt to extract discernable features from the at least one image, whereby a number of discernable features are extracted;
• based on a determination that the number of discernable features that are extracted is below a threshold, determining that the one or more surfaces lack sufficient discernable features to determine a location of the at least one area in the physical environment;
• and
• in response to determining that the one or more surfaces lack sufficient discernable features to determine a location of the at least one area in the physical environment, causing the robotic device to provide a material in respective patterns onto the one or more surfaces of the at least one area, wherein the respective patterns include sufficient discernable features to determine a location of the at least one area in the physical environment, and wherein the material is predicted to remain on the one or more surfaces for a predetermined period of time.