An increasing number of companies in Japan are using robots that automatically transport items through their warehouses and factories. Rationalizing logistics is an urgent issue amid the ever-growing popularity of e-commerce and labor shortages. The logistics robot market is booming because of another reason: the so-called 2024 problem, which refers to an overtime cap for truck drivers that kicks in from April next year and is predicted to create a serious driver shortage.

Robots have been a mainstay in factories for decades, but their use has been expanding everywhere else, from warehouses and hospitals to retail. That trend continued last year, and the novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated service robot demand for automated logistics, disinfection, and delivery, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The Frankfurt, Germany-based IFR said that the sales value of professional service robots increased by 32% to $11.2 billion (U.S.) worldwide between 2018 and 2019. The organization published its full research in the "World Robotics 2020 – Service Robots" report, which is available for download. Sales of medical robotics accounted for 47% of the total service robot value turnover in 2019, according to the IFR.

Manufacturing industries are undergoing a major paradigm shift towards more autonomy. Automated planning and scheduling then becomes a necessity. The Planning and Execution Competition for Logistics Robots in Simulation held at ICAPS is based on this scenario and provides an interesting testbed. However, the posed problem is challenging as also demonstrated by the somewhat weak results in 2017. The domain requires temporal reasoning and dealing with uncertainty. We propose a novel planning system based on Answer Set Programming and the Clingo solver to tackle these problems and incentivize robot cooperation. Our results show a significant performance improvement, both, in terms of lowering computational requirements and better game metrics.

Locus Robotics Corp., whose robots help workers fulfill e-commerce orders, raised $25 million in a funding round led by Scale Venture Partners that the company plans to use to develop new products and expand into new markets. The Wilmington, Mass.-based company makes software and autonomous mobile robots that sync up with warehouse management systems to help workers handle orders more efficiently by taking the fastest routes through aisles to fill orders more quickly. The robots resemble motorized stools with shelving and touchscreens. They operate in groups and use sensors to navigate through warehouses as workers pick items and move on. Locus, whose customers include Deutsche Post AG's DHL Supply Chain, says its technology can double the number of items that workers pick per hour.