Robot-assisted instore operations in grocery retailing -- Robots collecting data: Modelling stores -- Robots collecting data: Robust identification of products -- Robots working in the backroom: Depalletization of mixed-case pallets -- Robots helping humans: Collaborative shelf refilling -- Robotic clerks: Autonomous shelf refilling
This book aims at sharing knowledge about the technological opportunities and the main research challenges regarding robotics for logistics in supermarkets and retail stores, from the perspectives of the end-users, logistic companies, technology providers, and robotic researchers. The authors have been involved into the H2020 project Robotics Enabling Fully Integrated Logistics Lines for Supermarkets (REFILLS), aimed at improving logistics in supermarkets thanks to mobile robotic systems in close and smart collaboration with humans. The readers will find a comprehensive analysis of the main logistic processes in retail stores with possible robotized solutions, involving mechanical design, perception, and control. These technologies have been validated in realistic environments, and some of them have been tested into real supermarkets. The book is intended for a broad academic and industrial readership, including operators in the field of logistics, distribution, and retail
