A Warehousing Robot: From Concept to Reality

In this paper, we review how Cable Driven Parallel Robots (CDPR) can be used for automated warehousing, specifically for Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), and how a concept design in the past decade has turned into a strong contender to the existing ASRS technologies. The developments in addressing low rigidity, in-plane and out-of-plane vibrations, unwanted degrees of freedom, and workspace are discussed in detail. The prototypes and experimental results are discussed and solutions to address the shortcomings of each prototype are reviewed. The outcomes of the studies have resulted in a new Cable-Driven ASRS (CD-ASRS) that is being built and is expected to be ready for industrial trial soon.