Automated Warehouse Material Handling using 3-Dof Robotic Manipulator Based on Computer Vision and IoT
Athul Zac Joseph1, Renjith Joseph2, Harikrishnan D3, Sudheer A.P4

1Athul Zac Joseph, Robotics/Mechatronics Laboratory, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India.
2Renjith Joseph, Robotics/Mechatronics Laboratory, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India.
3Harikrishnan D, Robotics/Mechatronics Laboratory, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India.
4Dr. Sudheer A.P, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India.
Manuscript received on 01 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 07 June 2019 | Manuscript published on 30 June 2019 | PP: 2447-2453 | Volume-8 Issue-8, June 2019 | Retrieval Number: H7395068819/19©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: In this era of e-commerce and online shopping, the focus is on bridging the time gap between order and delivery of a commodity. Delay in warehouse material handling is one of the primary reasons responsible for this time gap which is only second to transportation delay. Conventional warehouses relying on workforce suffer from poor efficiency, high labour cost and unanticipated delays. Automated warehouses can increase productivity and reduce the cost associated with human operators. This paper focuses on automating the storage and retrieval of goods in a warehouse with the help of computer vision algorithms and Internet of Things (IoT). The goods are packed in colour coded boxes equipped with Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) tags storing the details of its contents. Cameras are placed at strategic positions in the warehouse which monitor the load pickup and unloading area. Smart inventory management is implemented by utilizing RF-ID tags and a database which keeps track of the movement of goods in the warehouse. The storage and retrieval operations in the warehouse are scheduled either using a smartphone application or a web page that can access the warehouse database. The system with some minor modifications can be used in shipping ports where large volumes of load are handled every day.
Keywords: Computer Vision, IoT, Warehouse Automation, 3P Robotic Manipulator

Scope of the Article: IoT