A software architecture for low-resource autonomous mobile manipulation

Mobile manipulators can significantly contribute to enhance the flexibility of several processes, such as automated order-picking systems and various logistic applications, thanks to their capability to manipulate objects and deliver them to different locations. A primary role is envisaged for them in Smart Factories, as workmates of the operators, if they are able to safely navigate in human-shared environments. This paper proposes a lightweight and flexible ROS1-based software architecture, designed for low-resource mobile manipulators, to make them able to autonomously search for the items requested by a human operator, independently from the starting pose, and pick and place them in a predefined depot location. The validity of the proposed architecture, which is potentially applicable to different low-resource mobile manipulators, is proven through its experimental implementation on a Locobot mobile robot.