US 12,094,195 B2
Identifying stairs from footfalls
Adam Komoroski, Waltham, MA (US)
Assigned to Boston Dynamics, Inc., Waltham, MA (US)
Filed by Boston Dynamics, Inc., Waltham, MA (US)
Filed on May 19, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/877,680.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/012,614, filed on Apr. 20, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0323618 A1, Oct. 21, 2021
Int. Cl. G06V 20/10 (2022.01); B62D 57/024 (2006.01); B62D 57/032 (2006.01); G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06V 10/44 (2022.01); G06V 10/762 (2022.01)
CPC G06V 20/10 (2022.01) [B62D 57/024 (2013.01); B62D 57/032 (2013.01); G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06V 10/44 (2022.01); G06V 10/762 (2022.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at data processing hardware of a robot, sensor data representing a plurality of footfall locations of the robot, each footfall location of the plurality of footfall locations indicating a location where a distal end of a leg of the robot contacted a support surface beneath the robot;
selecting, by the data processing hardware, a footfall location pair of the plurality of footfall locations, the footfall location pair comprising a first footfall location and a second footfall location, wherein selecting the footfall location pair is based on determining that at least one of a vertical distance between the first footfall location and the second footfall location satisfies a first threshold associated with one or more heights of one or more stair structures, or a horizontal distance between the first footfall location and the second footfall location satisfies a second threshold associated with one or more depths of one or more stair structures;
clustering, by the data processing hardware, each footfall location of the footfall location pair into a respective cluster group of footfall locations of a plurality of cluster groups of footfall locations based on a height of the respective footfall location and based on selecting the footfall location pair;
generating, by the data processing hardware, a stair model of a set of stairs based on the received sensor data by representing each of the plurality of cluster groups of footfall locations as a corresponding stair of the set of stairs; and
instructing, by the data processing hardware, traversal of the set of stairs by at least one robot.