Mobile dual-arm robot for automated order picking system in warehouse containing various kinds of products

Nobutaka Kimura, Kiyoto Ito, Taiki Fuji, Keisuke Fujimoto, Kanako Esaki, Fumiko Beniyama, Toshio Moriya

Abstract: We have prototyped a mobile dual-arm robot and an automated order picking system including the robot for warehouses that contain various kinds of products. By using self-localization, model-based object recognition and arm trajectory planning, the robot can autonomously move to the front of the shelf that has a target product, fetch the product from the shelf and put the product in a carton transported by an automated guided vehicle. Especially for adjusting to various kinds of products and their storage situations, the robot makes two arms collaborate and mounts tables to lift and rotate two arms and four different types of end effectors. In experimental tests, the robot successfully picked out bottles in a case and picked up two different sizes of boxes directly placed on shelves with different heights. In the result, our proposed system can automate whole order picking operations in warehouses where the operations are currently performed by workers.