COMPUTING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING MODIFICATION OF THE ROUTE OF AN AUTONOMOUS SURFACE VEHICLE

A computing device, method and computer program product are provided for facilitating modification of the route of an autonomous surface vehicle. In the context of a method, a stylized image of an input image, such as a photographic image, is constructed. The stylized image distinguishes between surfaces having different texture that are present in the input image. Based upon the stylized image, the method also includes determining a frictional coefficient associated with at least some of the surfaces having different texture. The method further includes determining whether the route of the autonomous surface vehicle is to be altered from a predefined route based upon the frictional coefficient that has been determined to be associated with a surface over which the predefined route of the autonomous surface vehicle extends.