Abstract
Out-of-the-box swarm solutions powering industrial logistics will need to adapt to the tasks at hand, coordinating in a distributed manner to transport objects of different sizes. This work designs and evaluates a collective transport strategy to move large and arbitrarily shaped objects in warehouse environments. The strategy uses a decentralized recruitment and decision-making process, ensuring that sufficient robots are in place for a coordinated, safe lift and transport of the object. Results show robots having no prior knowledge about the object’s size and shape were successfully able to transport them in simulation.
Highlights
A recent study found that potential users of storage and retrieval systems perceive swarm robots to be useful when they facilitate efficient storage, automatic inventory check, and sorting abilities [1]
This work was presented in part at the joint symposium with the 15th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 2021 and the 4th International Symposium on Swarm Behavior and Bio-Inspired Robotics 2021 (Online, June1–4, 2021)
One of the most challenging questions in swarm robotics is how to choose the behavior of individual agents that results in the desired emergent group behavior [15]
Summary
A recent study found that potential users of storage and retrieval systems perceive swarm robots to be useful when they facilitate efficient storage, automatic inventory check, and sorting abilities [1]. This study explores how warehouse swarm robots can safely transport large and arbitrarily shaped objects towards a target direction without any prior knowledge of the object and the number of agents required. This paper presents a collective transport strategy that consists of a coordinated lift of the object once sufficient agents are recruited. The collective behavior at the group level emerges from individual actions robots take based purely on local information from other robots and the environment [13, 14]. Swarm robotics research in warehouses and storage environments has been primarily focused on collective retrieval of unit sized objects, each carried by a single robot [16]. Sufficient numbers of agents must be recruited for a safe lift and transport. The object must be moved towards a target direction
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