Abstract: The present disclosure describes techniques for a robotic cleaning device to determine a plan to clean an environment based on types of surfaces in the environment. The plan can include a route to take in the environment and/or one or more configurations to apply to the robotic cleaning device during the route. Determining the plan can include inserting detected surface types into an environmental map of the environment. The environmental map can then be used on future routes such that the robotic cleaning device can know a surface type of a surface before the robotic cleaning device reaches the surface. In some examples, a type of a surface of the environment can be detected by the robotic cleaning device based on optical polarization of light.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes techniques for a robotic cleaning device to determine a plan to clean an environment based on types of surfaces in the environment. The plan can include a route to take in the environment and/or one or more configurations to apply to the robotic cleaning device during the route. Determining the plan can include inserting detected surface types into an environmental map of the environment. The environmental map can then be used on future routes such that the robotic cleaning device can know a surface type of a surface before the robotic cleaning device reaches the surface. In some examples, a type of a surface of the environment can be detected by the robotic cleaning device based on optical polarization of light.

Abstract: Embodiments provide methods and apparatus for effectively using signal strength and other data from a robot to optimize robot operation. In one embodiment, the cleaning robot can interact with other home controllers over a network to optimize the operation of the cleaning robot. In one embodiment, the cleaning robot measures a variety of data as it travels through a space, and generates a map (e.g., a heat map). The data is provided in different layers for easy display and selection by a user. In one embodiment, the cleaning robot can act as a hub for communicating with other home controllers and coordinating actions.