Apparatus and methods for navigation of a robotic device configured to operate in an environment comprising objects and/or persons. Location of objects and/or persons may changed prior and/or during operation of the robot. In one embodiment, a bistatic sensor comprises a transmitter and a receiver. The receiver may be spatially displaced from the transmitter. The transmitter may project a pattern on a surface in the direction of robot movement. In one variant, the pattern comprises an encoded portion and an information portion. The information portion may be used to communicate information related to robot movement to one or more persons. The encoded portion may be used to determine presence of one or more object in the path of the robot. The receiver may sample a reflected pattern and compare it with the transmitted pattern. Based on a similarity measure breaching a threshold, indication of object present may be produced.