Placement-position search technique for packing various objects with robot manipulator

Abstract

In this study, a placement-position search technique for robot-executable, space-efficient packing of various objects with a robot manipulator has been developed. The technique is used to enable placing objects in order from the corner of a container, fulfilling the following conditions: (A) the corner is within the reach of a robot manipulator, and (B) the robot manipulator does not collide with surrounding obstacles when it moves an object to the corner. The technique is as follows: a robot manipulator holding an object alternates between motions in a straight line and random reflections from a surface of either a container or already-packed objects in a simulation of robot movement. The motions and reflections are under physical constraints such as the reach of the robot manipulator and collisions between the robot and surrounding obstacles. The technique was evaluated with numerical examples based on the CAD data of an actual industrial-robot-manipulator using five types of objects, and the robot-packable corner for each object was determined. We therefore concluded that the technique is essential for the packing of various objects with a robot manipulator. The technique is expected to be used for packing with a robot manipulator in warehouses and factories.