luhbots @work
Industrial logistics of the future
What is robocup @work about?
The RoboCup @work league implements industrial logistic tasks in a small form factor. The robot has to navigate to the desired locations automatically. AT the locations, which are called workstations, different objects have to be detected and classified. Objects defined by the referees have to be grasped and correctly placed on other workstations. Besides plain workstations there are also more difficult ones. These are designed to challenge the teams to implement more sophisticated path planning and controlling techniques. The @work league therefore summarizes most of the challenges modern robotics is facing: dynamic and save manipulation, autonomous navigation and SLAM, computer vision and new sensor technologies.
What are the goals of the @work team right now?
Changes in the team and adaptions of the rules of the league in 2018 made it necessary to restructure and re-implement major parts of our ROS software implementations. Goals were to simplify and modularize the structure for making debugging easier and to enhance mainly the robustness of the software system. The new software stack was used and tested in the RoboCup German Open and World Championship 2019, achieving 3rd and 4th place respectively.
The Corona Pandemic in 2020, which meant cancellation of all events, gave us time to develop and build our own robotic platform. We also introduced a new robotic arm. In 2021 we were able to participate in the virtual RoboCup World Championship 2021 with completely new hardware. The focus for now is to ensure robustness and safety of the developed robot in the first place, aiming to have a reliable, competitive and well performing system in the 2022 events and in the future.