Industrial logistics of the future!
What's it about?
Our team is working on developing a robot named @Work to participate in the RoboCup competition. @Work is an autonomous mobile robot capable of operating independently in an environment. Its task is to navigate to workplaces, detect and sort the objects present there. Predefined objects are also to be picked up and placed in the correct location. The competition features workplaces with varying levels of difficulty, continuously challenging the participants. Therefore, all important topics of modern robotics are addressed, such as dynamic and secure manipulation, autonomous navigation, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), computer vision, and state-of-the-art sensor technology.
What are the current goals of the @Work team?
In parallel, we are intensively working on our latest mobile platform. This platform is not only larger but also offers improved performance, enabling us to complete complex tasks faster and more effectively than before. Scaling our hardware poses the challenge of adapting our software accordingly to make optimal use of the additional resources.
Our current agenda includes testing and refining the physical and algorithmic parameters to ensure seamless interaction between the new Igus robotic arm and the platform.
Our software and hardware teams are working hand in hand to maximize the robot’s precision and efficiency. Ultimately, we aim to shine not only in future competitions but also to demonstrate and expand the applicability of our technology in real-world scenarios.
The work on our robots is done in two main working groups:
Hardware
Hardware plays a crucial role in robots as it provides the physical components necessary for their operation. The hardware of a robot includes various mechanical, electrical, and electronic components that enable the robot to interact with its environment, perform tasks, and carry out its intended functions. Our approach for designing a new mobile platform for the use in the RoboCup@Work league is to build a robot that is smaller and therefore more maneuverable than other competitors. Besides building up the system in the first place we aim for low maintenance costs as well.
Software
The purpose of software for a robot is to provide the intelligence and capabilities necessary for the robot to perceive, act, and interact effectively in its environment, enabling it to perform tasks autonomously.