Toward Future Automatic Warehouses: An Autonomous Depalletizing System Based on Mobile Manipulation and 3D Perception

Aleotti, Jacopo; Baldassarri, Alberto; Bonfè, Marcello; Carricato, Marco; Chiaravalli, Davide; Di Leva, Roberto; Fantuzzi, Cesare; Farsoni, Saverio; Innero, Gino; Lodi Rizzini, Dario; Melchiorri, Claudio; Monica, Riccardo; Palli, Gianluca; Rizzi, Jacopo; Sabattini, Lorenzo; Sampietro, Gianluca; Zaccaria, Federico

doi:10.3390/app11135959

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Toward Future Automatic Warehouses: An Autonomous Depalletizing System Based on Mobile Manipulation and 3D Perception

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DIA—Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy

DIN—Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy

Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, 44122 Ferrara, Italy

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DEI—Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy

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DISMI—Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy

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CIDEA—Center for Energy and Environment, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editors: Bruno Siciliano, Luigi Villani, Antonio Lanzotti and Stanislao Patalano

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(13), 5959; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11135959

Received: 18 May 2021 / Revised: 15 June 2021 / Accepted: 23 June 2021 / Published: 26 June 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focus on Integrated Collaborative Systems for Smart Factory)

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Abstract

This paper presents a mobile manipulation platform designed for autonomous depalletizing tasks. The proposed solution integrates machine vision, control and mechanical components to increase flexibility and ease of deployment in industrial environments such as warehouses. A collaborative robot mounted on a mobile base is proposed, equipped with a simple manipulation tool and a 3D in-hand vision system that detects parcel boxes on a pallet, and that pulls them one by one on the mobile base for transportation. The robot setup allows to avoid the cumbersome implementation of pick-and-place operations, since it does not require lifting the boxes. The 3D vision system is used to provide an initial estimation of the pose of the boxes on the top layer of the pallet, and to accurately detect the separation between the boxes for manipulation. Force measurement provided by the robot together with admittance control are exploited to verify the correct execution of the manipulation task. The proposed system was implemented and tested in a simplified laboratory scenario and the results of experimental trials are reported. View Full-Text

Keywords: mobile manipulation; robot vision; industrial depalletizing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Aleotti, J.; Baldassarri, A.; Bonfè, M.; Carricato, M.; Chiaravalli, D.; Di Leva, R.; Fantuzzi, C.; Farsoni, S.; Innero, G.; Lodi Rizzini, D.; Melchiorri, C.; Monica, R.; Palli, G.; Rizzi, J.; Sabattini, L.; Sampietro, G.; Zaccaria, F. Toward Future Automatic Warehouses: An Autonomous Depalletizing System Based on Mobile Manipulation and 3D Perception. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 5959. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11135959

AMA Style

Aleotti J, Baldassarri A, Bonfè M, Carricato M, Chiaravalli D, Di Leva R, Fantuzzi C, Farsoni S, Innero G, Lodi Rizzini D, Melchiorri C, Monica R, Palli G, Rizzi J, Sabattini L, Sampietro G, Zaccaria F. Toward Future Automatic Warehouses: An Autonomous Depalletizing System Based on Mobile Manipulation and 3D Perception. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(13):5959. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11135959

Chicago/Turabian Style

Aleotti, Jacopo, Alberto Baldassarri, Marcello Bonfè, Marco Carricato, Davide Chiaravalli, Roberto Di Leva, Cesare Fantuzzi, Saverio Farsoni, Gino Innero, Dario Lodi Rizzini, Claudio Melchiorri, Riccardo Monica, Gianluca Palli, Jacopo Rizzi, Lorenzo Sabattini, Gianluca Sampietro, and Federico Zaccaria. 2021. "Toward Future Automatic Warehouses: An Autonomous Depalletizing System Based on Mobile Manipulation and 3D Perception" Applied Sciences 11, no. 13: 5959. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11135959

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