Towards autonomous retail stocking and picking : methods enabling robust vacuum-based robotic manipulation in densely packed environments

Kmecl, Peter (avtor), Munih, Marko (avtor), Podobnik, Janez (avtor)

With the advent of robotics and artificial intelligence, the potential for automating tasks within human-centric environments has increased significantly. This is particularly relevant in the retail sector where the demand for efficient operations and the shortage of labor drive the need for rapid advancements in robot-based technologies. Densely packed retail shelves pose unique challenges for robotic manipulation and detection due to limited space and diverse object shapes. Vacuum-based grasping technologies offer a promising solution but face challenges with object shape adaptability. The study proposes a framework for robotic grasping in retail environments, an adaptive vacuum-based grasping solution, and a new evaluation metric—termed grasp shear force resilience—for measuring the effectiveness and stability of the grasp during manipulation. The metric provides insights into how retail objects behave under different manipulation scenarios, allowing for better assessment and optimization of robotic grasping performance. The study’s findings demonstrate the adaptive suction cups’ ability to successfully handle a wide range of object shapes and sizes, which, in some cases, overcome commercially available solutions, particularly in adaptability. Additionally, the grasp shear force resilience metric highlights the effects of the manipulation process, such as in shear force and shake, on the manipulated object. This offers insights into its interaction with different vacuum cup grasping solutions in retail picking and restocking scenarios.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: service robotics, retail automation, grasping, dense object detection, vacuum actuators, knowledge representation
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FE - Fakulteta za elektrotehniko
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2024
• Št. strani: 21 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 24, iss. 20, art. 6687
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-164593
• UDK: 007.52
• ISSN pri članku: 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24206687
• COBISS.SI-ID: 213629443
• Datum objave v RUL: 04.11.2024

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Sensors
• Skrajšan naslov: Sensors
• Založnik: MDPI
• ISSN: 1424-8220
• COBISS.SI-ID: 10176278

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: servisna robotika, trgovinska avtomatizacija, prijemanje, zaznavanje gosto porazdeljenih objektov, vakuumski aktuatorji, predstavitev znanja

Projekti

• Financer: ARIS - Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P2-0228
• Naslov: Analiza in sinteza gibanja pri človeku in stroju