Cobots in Logistics

Collaborative robots

In the future, many workers will carry out their jobs with a human-sized robot by their side. These kind of robots, which can work with people faultlessly, are also called ‘cobots’: collaborative robots.

These robots can easily be taught tasks so that they can be deployed simply and quickly, at a low investment cost. Through the ‘Cobots in Logistics’ project, VIL aims to enable the logistics sector to acquire knowledge and practical experience of the possibilities of these flexible service robots.

The structural wage handicap impacts the productivity of logistical warehouse operations in Flanders. For several activities with low added value, the (more expensive) workforce could be replaced by (cheaper) robots.

This would reduce total operating costs, which anchor logistical activities in Flanders and could even create additional employment. However, robotics does not just potentially optimize costs – it can also support difficult or heavy-duty activities and reduce the error rate for repetitive tasks.

What is the current state-of-the-art for cobots? What are the possible applications in logistics? What is the business case? What about practical applications and simulation? This project will provide a practical answer to all of these questions. In collaboration with Sirris, cobots will be tested in a series of pilots.

Opportunities

• Assisting logistical staff with performing repetitive tasks (packing, sorting, etc.) in a very user-friendly and safe way, increasing the productivity of workers in the process;
• Avoiding cumbersome handling of heavy loads or unergonomic actions;
• Simple and flexible automation of certain VAL activities such as limited assembly, labeling and making up or putting together a parcel (e-commerce).

For instance, robots with 3-D vision can:

• remove any components from a box or tray and sort or place them in a package in a controlled manner;
• smart stacking of parcels with varying sizes, based on an optimum stacking pattern;
• pick up boxes placed at random and place them in a controlled manner (consolidation of parcels).