MARLIN: A cloud integrated robotic solution to support intralogistics in retail

Abstract

In this paper, we present the service robot MARLIN and its integration with the K4R platform11K4R - Knowledge4Retail (https://knowledge4retail.org), a cloud system for complex AI applications in retail. At its core, this platform contains so-called semantic digital twins, a semantically annotated representation of the retail store. MARLIN continuously exchanges data with the K4R platform, improving the robot’s capabilities in perception, autonomous navigation, and task planning. We exploit these capabilities in a retail intralogistics scenario, specifically by assisting store employees in stocking shelves. We demonstrate that MARLIN is able to update the digital representation of the retail store, autonomously plan and execute replenishment missions, adapt to unforeseen changes in the environment, and interact with store employees. Experiments are conducted in simulation, in a laboratory environment, and in a real store. We also describe MARLIN’s capabilities in terms of obstacle detection and navigation in confined spaces.