A method of exploring a robot deployment area by an autonomous mobile robot , the method comprising: starting (S10) an exploratory trip, wherein the robot carries out the following during the exploratory trip: detecting (S11) objects in the environment of the robot , and storing detected objects as map data in a map while the robot is moving through the robot deployment area; carrying out (S12) a sub-area detection based on the stored map data, wherein at least a first sub-area is detected which is defined as a current reference sub-area; checking (S13) whether the current reference sub-area has been fully explored; continuously repeating the sub-area detection (S12) to update the current reference sub-area, and repeating the check (S13) as to whether the updated current reference sub-area has been fully explored, and continuing (S14) the exploration of the updated current reference sub-area until the check shows that the updated current reference sub-area has been fully explored; and then continuing the exploratory trip in the further sub-area if a further sub-area was detected during the sub-area detection (S15), wherein the further sub-area is used as a new reference sub-area (S16), wherein, to update the current reference sub-area, the sub-area detection takes into account both the current map data and the previous boundaries of the current reference sub-area, wherein, to update the current reference sub-area, the part of the robot deployment area that has already been explored is divided into one or more sub-areas, wherein the new reference sub-area is selected from the detected sub-areas according to predefined criteria, and characterized in that , from the further detected sub-areas, that one is selected as the new reference sub-area which has the greatest overlap with the previously determined current reference sub-area. detecting (S11) objects in the environment of the robot , and storing detected objects as map data in a map while the robot is moving through the robot deployment area; carrying out (S12) a sub-area detection based on the stored map data, wherein at least a first sub-area is detected which is defined as a current reference sub-area; checking (S13) whether the current reference sub-area has been fully explored; continuously repeating the sub-area detection (S12) to update the current reference sub-area, and repeating the check (S13) as to whether the updated current reference sub-area has been fully explored, and continuing (S14) the exploration of the updated current reference sub-area until the check shows that the updated current reference sub-area has been fully explored; and then continuing the exploratory trip in the further sub-area if a further sub-area was detected during the sub-area detection (S15), wherein the further sub-area is used as a new reference sub-area (S16), wherein, to update the current reference sub-area, the sub-area detection takes into account both the current map data and the previous boundaries of the current reference sub-area, wherein, to update the current reference sub-area, the part of the robot deployment area that has already been explored is divided into one or more sub-areas, wherein the new reference sub-area is selected from the detected sub-areas according to predefined criteria, and characterized in that , from the further detected sub-areas, that one is selected as the new reference sub-area which has the greatest overlap with the previously determined current reference sub-area. <EOS>