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On the design of the ROBO-PARTNER Intra-factory logistics autonomous robot
Abstract
The trends of manufacturing have now begun to call for a more adaptive and dynamic shop floor in the automation industry. The advancements in mobile robotics of recent decades have inspired and cemented a belief that multiple autonomous mobile robotic agents, often cooperatively sharing the workspace with humans, will significantly contribute to a truly flexible shop floor of the future. This article reports on the design specifications for one such robotic agent, the Intra-factory Mobile Assistant Unit (IMAU), able to carry material boxes between supermarkets and assembly stations, dynamically avoiding obstacles , throughout the shop floor. The solution will make shop floor logistics more flexible, reduce the allocated space for buffers, and, also, ease the human workload. The article will cover the sensing, actuation, communication, software architecture, and the seamless integration into the plant's execution system, which shape the autonomous logistics robot to be deployed into a working automotive shop floor during the ROBO-PARTNER project.
... Mobile self-navigating robotic technology has successfully been applied to various domains, including logistics [1], housekeeping [2], agriculture [3], exploration [4], customer service [5], maintenance in hazardous environments [6] and delivery of goods [7]. Due to their high level of autonomy-often combined with versatile interfaces to the environment-robotic systems seem highly promising for the health-care domain, especially when dealing with pressing social problems like overaging and shortage of qualified personnel. ...
... There is great potential for easing staff workload and B Lukas Bernhard lukas.bernhard@tum.de 1 Research Group MITI, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Munich, Germany 2 Department of Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Munich, Germany improving overall efficiency by reducing monotonous and physically demanding tasks. ...
PurposeAutonomously self-navigating clinical assistance systems (ASCAS) seem highly promising for improving clinical workflows. There is great potential for easing staff workload and improving overall efficiency by reducing monotonous and physically demanding tasks. However, a seamless integration of such systems into complex human-supervised clinical workflows is challenging. As of yet, guiding principles and specific approaches for solving this problem are lacking.Methods
We propose to treat ASCAS orchestration as a scheduling problem. However, underlying objectives and constraints for this scheduling problem differ considerably from those found in other domains (e.g., manufacturing, logistics). We analyze the clinical environment to deduce unique needs and conclude that existing scheduling approaches are not sufficient to overcome these challenges.ResultsWe present four guiding principles, namely human precedence, command structure, emergency context and immediacy, that govern the integration of self-navigating assistance systems into clinical workflows. Based on these results, we propose our approach, namely Auto-Navigation Task Scheduling for Operating Rooms (ANTS-OR), for solving the ASCAS orchestration problem in a surgical application scenario, employing a score-based scheduling strategy.Conclusion
The proposed approach is a first step toward addressing the ASCAS orchestration problem for the OR wing. We are currently advancing and validating our concept using a simulation environment and aim at realizing a dynamic end-to-end ASCAS orchestration platform in the future.
... The implementation of robots in the warehousing context has been a topic of discussion for its possibilities to increase efficiency and reduce repetitive tasks for humans (Raji et al., 2021). To this end, Lourenco et al. (2017) prototyped an autonomous mobile robot that can handle transportation from manufacturing supermarkets to assembly stations while avoiding obstacles, as it is intended to operate in a dynamic environment together with other autonomous robots and human operators. The approach of adding autonomous features to existing technologies is also in line with the maturity model proposed by related to Logistics 4.0 in internal processes. ...
Purpose
In the last decade, the Industry 4.0 paradigm had started to rapidly expand to the logistics domain. However, Logistics 4.0 is still in an early adoption stage: some areas such as warehousing are still exploring its applicability, and the technological implementation of this paradigm can become fuzzy. This paper addresses this gap by examining the relationship among influencing factors, barriers, and benefits of Logistics 4.0 technologies in warehousing contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach with 56 examined documents published in scientific journals or conference proceedings, a conceptual framework for Logistics 4.0 in warehousing is proposed. The framework encompasses multiple aspects related to the potential adopter’s decision-making process.
Findings
Influencing factors toward adoption, achievable benefits, and possible hurdles or criticalities have been extensively analyzed and structured into a consistent picture. Company’s digital awareness and readiness result in a major influencing factor, whereas barriers and criticalities are mostly technological, safety and security, and economic in nature. Warehousing process optimization is the key benefit identified.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a major gap since most of the research has focused on specific facets, or adopted the technology providers’ perspective, whereas little has been explored in warehousing from the adopters’ view. The main novelty and value lie in providing both academics and practitioners with a thorough view of multiple facets to be considered when approaching Logistics 4.0 in logistics facilities.
... e applications of mobile grasping robots are becoming more and more extensive. e application fields include hospitals [1], restaurants [2], supermarkets [3], factories [4], and hotels [5]. In life, people often need to transfer items. ...
Mobile manipulators are widely used in different fields for transferring and grasping tasks such as in medical assisting devices, industrial production, and hotel services. It is challenging to improve navigation accuracies and grasping success rates in complex environments. In this paper, we develop a multisensor-based mobile grasping system which is configured with a vision system and a novel gripper set in an UR5 manipulator. Additionally, an error term of a cost function based on DWA (dynamic window approach) is proposed to improve the navigation performance of the mobile platform through visual guidance. In the process of mobile grasping, the size and position of the object can be identified by a visual recognition algorithm, and then the finger space and chassis position can be automatically adjusted; thus, the object can be grasped by the UR5 manipulator and gripper. To demonstrate the proposed methods, comparison experiments are also conducted using our developed mobile grasping system. According to the analysis of the experimental results, the motion accuracy of the mobile chassis has been improved significantly, satisfying the requirements of navigation and grasping success rates, as well as achieving a high performance over a wide grasping size range from 1.7 mm to 200 mm.
This paper presents a human-aware navigation system for mobile robots targeted to cooperative assembly in intra-factory logistics scenarios. To improve overall efficiency of the operator-robot ensemble, assembly stations and operators are modelled as cost functions in a layered cost map supporting the robot navigation system. At each new sensory update, the system uses each operator’s estimated location to affect the cost map accordingly. To promote predictability and comfort in the human operator, the cost map is affected according to the Proxemics theory, properly adapted to take into account the layout activity space of the station in which the operator is working. Knowledge regarding which task and station are being handled by the operator are assumed to be given to the robot by the factory’s computational infrastructure. To foster integration in existing robots, the system is implemented on top of the navigation system of the Robot Operating System (ROS).
This paper presents a multi-core processing solution for ROS-based service robots. The power management together with the control and availability of the processing resources are supervised by a custom-made Power Management Board (PMB) based on a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) micro controller, implementing a Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). The proposed architecture also allows for the PMB to control the most critical robot functions in case of low battery conditions or impossibility of performing energy harvesting, thus extending the lifespan of the robot. All PMB data is recorded on a SD card so as to allow offline analyses of the robotic mission and, thus, support subsequent maintenance activities. Two different implementations of the proposed system have been fielded in two Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) for environmental monitoring, covering aerial, water surface, and wheeled ground vehicles. An additional implementation of the architecture is currently being deployed on an industrial autonomous logistics robot. These three implementations are presented and discussed.
This paper presents the vision and architectures, proposed by the EU project ROBO-PARTNER. The project aspires to the integration of the latest industrial automation systems for assembly operations, in combination with human capabilities. Focus is given to combining robot strength, velocity, predictability, repeatability and precision with human intelligence and skills to get at a hybrid solution that would be involving the safe cooperation of operators with autonomous and adapting robotic systems. The main enablers are: the development of intuitive interfaces for safe human-robot cooperation (HRC), the use of safety strategies and equipment, allowing fenceless human robot assembly cells, the introduction of methods and tools for the efficient planning programming and execution of assembly operations, as well as the use of mobile robots, acting as assistants to human operators. The project also provides a more flexible integration and communication architecture by utilizing a distributed computing model along with ontology services. A pilot case from the automotive industry is used as the ground for developing and testing the aforementioned technologies.
A new trend in automation is to deploy so-called cyber-physical systems (CPS) which combine computation with physical pro-cesses. The novel RoboCup Logistics League Sponsored by Festo (LLSF) aims at a such CPS logistic scenarios in an automation setting. A team of robots has to produce products from a number of semi-finished products which they have to machine during the game. Different production plans are possible and the robots need to recycle scrap byproducts. This way, the LLSF is a very interesting league offering a number of challenging research questions for planning, coordination, or communication in an application-driven scenario. In this paper, we outline the objectives of the LLSF and present steps for developing the league further towards a benchmark for logistics scenarios for CPS. As a major milestone we present the new automated referee system which helps in governing the game play as well as keeping track of the scored points in a very complex factory scenario.
Robots used in manufacturing today are tailored to their tasks by system integration based on expert knowledge concerning both production and machine control. For upcoming new generations of even more flexible robot solutions, in applications such as dexterous assembly, the robot setup and programming gets even more challenging. Reuse of solutions in terms of parameters, controls, process tuning, and of software modules in general then gets increasingly important. There has been valuable progress within reuse of automation solutions when machines comply with standards and behave according to nominal models. However, more flexible robots with sensor-based manipulation skills and cognitive functions for human interaction are far too complex to manage, and solutions are rarely reusable since knowledge is either implicit in imperative software or not captured in machine readable form. We propose techniques that build on existing knowledge by converting structured data into an RDF-based knowledge base. By enhancements of industrial control systems and available engineering tools, such knowledge can be gradually extended as part of the interaction during the definition of the robot task.
This paper presents the concept "autonomous industrial mobile manipulation" (AIMM) based on the mobile manipulator "Little Helper" - an ongoing research project at Aalborg University, Denmark, concerning the development of an autonomous and flexible manufacturing assistant. The paper focuses on the contextual aspects and the working principles of AIMM. Furthermore, the paper deals with the design principles and overall hardware and software architectures of "Little Helper" from a functional and modular mechatronics point of view, in order to create a generic AIMM platform. The design challenges faced in the project is to integrate commercial off‐the‐shelf (COTS) and dedicated highly integrated systems into an autonomous mobile manipulator system with the ability to perform diverse tasks in industrial environments. We propose an action based domain specific communication language for AIMM for routine and task definition, in order to lower the entry barriers for the users of the technology. To demonstrate the "Little Helper" concept a full‐scale prototype has been built and different application examples carried out. Experiences and knowledge gained from this show promising results regarding industrial integration, exploitation and maturation of the AIMM technology.
Human-robot interaction (HRI) is a relatively new field of study. To date, most of the effort in robotics has been spent in developing hardware and software that expands the range of robot functionality and autonomy. In contrast, little effort has been spent so far to ensure that the robotic displays and interaction controls are intuitive for humans. Our study applied robotics, human-computer interaction (HCI), and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) expertise to gain experience with HCI/CSCW evaluation techniques in the robotics domain. We used as our case study four different robot systems that competed in the 2002 American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Robot Rescue Competition. These systems completed urban search and rescue tasks in a controlled environment with pre-determined scoring rules that provided objective measures of success. We analyzed pre-evaluation questionnaires; videotapes of the robots, interfaces, and operators; maps of the robots' paths through the competition arena; post-evaluation debriefings; and critical incidents (e.g., when the robots damaged the test arena). As a result, we developed guidelines for developing interfaces for HRI.
A Multi-Agent System is an organization of coordinated autonomous agents that interact in order to achieve common goals. Considering real world organizations as an analogy, this paper proposes architectural styles for MAS which adopt concepts from organizational theories. The styles are modeled using the i* framework which o#ers the notions of actor, goal and actor dependency and specified in Formal Tropos. They are evaluated with respect to a set of software quality attributes, such as predictability and adaptability. In addition, we conduct a comparative study of organizational and conventional software architectures using the mobile robot control example from the Software Engineering literature. The research is conducted in the context of Tropos, a comprehensive software system development methodology.
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence (JETAI) 9, 1997, 215-235. Special issue on Architectures for Physical Agents. Mobile robots, if they areto perform useful tasks andbecome accepted in open environments, must be fully autonomous. Autonomy has many different aspects; here we concentrate on three central ones: the ability to attend to another agent, to take advice about the environment, and to carry out assigned tasks. All three involve complex sensing and planning operations on the part of the robot, including the use of visual tracking of humans, coordination of motor controls, and planning. We show how these capabilities are integrated in the Saphira architecture, using the concepts of coordination of behavior, coherence of modeling, and communication with other agents. This paper reports work done while this author was at SRI International. 1 Autonomous Mobile Agents What are the minimal capabilities for an autonomous mobile agent? Posed in th...
Obstacles in the workspace W map in the configuration space C to regions called C-obstacles. In Chapter 2 we defined the C-obstacle CB corresponding to a workspace obstacle B as the following region in C:$$CB = \{ q \in C/A(q) \cap B \ne 0\} $$.
The planning methods described in the previous three chapters aim at capturing the global connectivity of the robot’s free space into a condensed graph that is subsequently searched for a path. The approach presented in this chapter proceeds from a different idea. It treats the robot represented as a point in configuration space as a particle under the influence of an artificial potential field U whose local variations are expected to reflect the “structure” of the free space. The potential function is typically (but not necessarily) defined over free space as the sum of an attractive potential pulling the robot toward the goal configuration and a repulsive potential pushing the robot away from the obstacles. Motion planning is performed in an iterative fashion. At each iteration, the artificial force \( \vec{F}(q) = - \vec{\nabla }U(q) \) induced by the potential function at the current configuration is regarded as the most promising direction of motion, and path generation proceeds along this direction by some increment.
This paper continues the discussion, begun in J. Schwartz and M. Sharir [Comm. Pure Appl. Math., in press], of the following problem, which arises in robotics: Given a collection of bodies B, which may be hinged, i.e., may allow internal motion around various joints, and given a region bounded by a collection of polyhedral or other simple walls, decide whether or not there exists a continuous motion connecting two given positions and orientations of the whole collection of bodies. We show that this problem can be handled by appropriate refinements of methods introduced by A. Tarski ["A Decision Method for Elementary Algebra and Geometry," 2nd ed., Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1951] and G. Collins [in "Second GI Conference on Automata Theory and Formal Languages," Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 33, pp. 134-183, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1975], which lead to algorithms for this problem which are polynomial in the geometric complexity of the problem for each fixed number of degrees of freedom (but exponential in the number of degrees of freedom). Our method, which is also related to a technique outlined by J. Reif [in "Proceedings, 20th Symposium on the Foundations of Computer Science," pp. 421-427, 1979], also gives a general (but not polynomial time) procedure for calculating all of the homology groups of an arbitrary real algebraic variety. Various algorithmic issues concerning computations with algebraic numbers, which are required in the algorithms presented in this paper, are also reviewed.
1 Introduction and Overview.- 2 Configuration Space of a Rigid Object.- 3 Obstacles in Configuration Space.- 4 Roadmap Methods.- 5 Exact Cell Decomposition.- 6 Approximate Cell Decomposition.- 7 Potential Field Methods.- 8 Multiple Moving Objects.- 9 Kinematic Constraints.- 10 Dealing with Uncertainty.- 11 Movable Objects.- Prospects.- Appendix A Basic Mathematics.- Appendix B Computational Complexity.- Appendix C Graph Searching.- Appendix D Sweep-Line Algorithm.- References.
Abstract— This paper gives an overview of ROS, an open- source robot operating,system. ROS is not an operating,system in the traditional sense of process management,and scheduling; rather, it provides a structured communications layer above the host operating,systems,of a heterogenous,compute,cluster. In this paper, we discuss how ROS relates to existing robot software frameworks, and briefly overview some of the available application software,which,uses ROS.
A new architecture for controlling mobile robots is described. Layers of control system are built to let the robot operate at increasing levels of competence. Layers are made up of asynchronous modules that communicate over low-bandwidth channels. Each module is an instance of a fairly simple computational machine. Higher-level layers can subsume the roles of lower levels by suppressing their outputs. However, lower levels continue to function as higher levels are added. The result is a robust and flexible robot control system. The system has been used to control a mobile robot wandering around unconstrained laboratory areas and computer machine rooms. Eventually it is intended to control a robot that wanders the office areas of our laboratory, building maps of its surroundings using an onboard arm to perform simple tasks.
Robotics-logistics can be understood as the field of activities in which applications of industrial robot-technologies are offered and demanded in order to ensure the optimization of internal material flows. According to a survey conducted by BIBA in 2007, the area of robotics-logistics has great need for modernization. Robotics-Logistics activities can be classified in several scenarios as unloading / loading of goods and palletizing / depalletizing of goods. Possible scenarios for research and development activities within theses fields are given.
Traditionally, companies used to view themselves as separate entities and did not devote efforts to collaborate with other echelons of the extended enterprise. This even happened at multi-site companies owning different plants that belonged to the same supply chain. However, manufacturing facilities of the same supply chain should intensively share information and coordinate planning and scheduling tasks in order to get a globally optimized solution. This paper discusses some specific characteristics of the planning and scheduling problem in the extended enterprise including an analysis of a case study, and reviews the available state-of-the-art research studies in this field. Most studies suggest that integrated approaches can have a significant impact on the system performance, in terms of lower production costs, and less inventory levels. The paper provides some conclusions and suggestions of future works.
Having the right product at the right time at the right place and in the right condition – these are the well-known requirements
for logistics and transportation in general. But fulfilling these requirements is getting more and more complex in a dynamically
changing logistic environment. There is a shift from traditional supply chains to open supply networks. Long-lasting business
relationships are overrun by short-term business connections. The highly dynamic logistic markets and the advancing complexity
of logistic networks require new methods, products and services. Aspects such as flexibility, adaptability and proactivity
gain importance and can only be achieved by integration of new technologies. While problem initiated approaches usually only
lead to minor improvements, technology driven approaches can evoke more radical changes. The technology driven approach that
is used to define Smart Products and Smart Services is utilized and extended to define “Smart Logistics”. Within the paper
a definition of Smart Logistics is given. Additionally current technical components of Smart Logistics are specified.
Simulators have played a critical role in robotics research as tools for quick and efficient testing of new concepts, strategies, and algorithms. To date, most simulators have been restricted to 2D worlds, and few have matured to the point where they are both highly capable and easily adaptable. Gazebo is designed to fill this niche by creating a 3D dynamic multi-robot environment capable of recreating the complex worlds that would be encountered by the next generation of mobile robots. Its open source status, fine grained control, and high fidelity place Gazebo in a unique position to become more than just a stepping stone between the drawing board and real hardware: data visualization, simulation of remote environments, and even reverse engineering of blackbox systems are all possible applications. Gazebo is developed in cooperation with the Player and Stage projects (Gerkey, B. P., et al., July 2003), (Gerkey, B. P., et al., May 2001), (Vaughan, R. T., et al., Oct. 2003), and is available from http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/gazebo/ gazebo.html.
A definition approach to smart logistics," in Next Generation Teletraffic and Wired/Wireless Advanced Networking
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2008, pp. 273-284.
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