Abstract
A multi-AGV based logistic system is typically associated with two fundamental problems, critical for its overall performance: the AGV's route planning for collision and deadlock avoidance; and the task scheduling to determine which vehicle should transport which load. Several heuristic functions can be used according to the application. This paper proposes a time-based algorithm to dynamically control a fleet of Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in an automatic warehouse scenario. Our approach includes a routing algorithm based on the A* heuristic search (TEA*-Time Enhanced A*) to generate free-collisions paths and a scheduling module to improve the results of the routing algorithm. These modules work cooperatively to provide an efficient task execution time considering as basis the routing algorithm information. Simulation experiments are presented using a typical industrial layout for 10 and 20 AGVs. Moreover, a comparison with an alternative approach from the state-of-the-art is also presented.

Abstract
For remaining competitive in the current industrial manufacturing markets, coating companies need to implement flexible production systems for dealing with mass customization and mass production workflows. The introduction of robotic manipulators capable of mimicking with accuracy the motions executed by highly skilled technicians is an important factor in enabling coating companies to cope with high customization. However, there are some limitations associated with the usage of a fully automated system for coating applications, especially when considering customized products of large dimensions and complex geometry. This paper addresses the development of a collaborative coating cell to increase the flexibility and efficiency of coating processes. The robot trajectory is taught with an intuitive programming by demonstration system, in which an icosahedron marker with multicoloured LEDs is attached to the coating tool for tracking its trajectories using a stereoscopic vision system. For avoiding the construction of fixtures and allowing the operator to freely place products within the coating work cell, a modular 3D perception system was developed, relying on principal component analysis for performing the initial point cloud alignment and on the iterative closest point algorithm for 6 DoF pose estimation. Furthermore, to enable safe and intuitive human-robot collaboration, a non-intrusive zone monitoring safety system was employed to track the position of the operator in the cell.

Abstract
Continuous Integration and Deployment in the robotics domain is still underutilized when compared to other fields of software development. Also, conventional testing techniques used in CI/CD pipelines are usually not enough to fully test a robotic project in its integrity. In this paper, an analysis is made regarding the usage of CI/CD techniques in robotic related repositories to both verify the veracity of these statements, as well as finding their causes. Additionally, a novel approach in the scope of CI/CD is explored, making use of cloud-based technologies to add additional automated simulation tests to the pipeline and integrate them with ease in the development of robotic software. Finally, the proposed approach is showcased in an industrial application. © 2021 IEEE.

Abstract
There are significant difficulties in deploying and reusing application code within the robotics community. Container technology proves to be a viable solution for such problems, as containers isolate application code and all its dependencies from the surrounding computational environment. They are also light, fast and performant. Manual generation of configuration files required by orchestration tools such as Docker Compose is very time-consuming, especially for more complex scenarios. In this paper a solution is presented to ease the development and deployment of Robot Operating System (ROS) packages using containers, by automatically generating all files used by Docker Compose to both containerize and orchestrate multiple ROS workspaces, supporting multiple ROS distributions and multi-robot scenarios. The proposed solution also generates Dockerfiles and is capable of building new Docker images at run-time, given a list of desired ROS packages to be containerized. Integration with existing Docker images is supported, even if non-ROS-related. After an analysis of existing solutions and techniques for containerizing ROS nodes, the multi-stage pipeline adopted by the proposed solution for file generation is detailed. Then, a real usage example of the proposed tool is presented, showcasing how it an aid both the development and deployment of new ROS packages and features. © 2021 IEEE.

Abstract
Nowadays, a laboratory operator in the areas of chemistry, biology or medicine spends considerable time performing micropipetting procedures, a common, monotonous and repetitive task which compromises the ergonomics of individuals, namely related to wrist musculoskeletal disorders. In this work, the design of a kinesthetic teaching approach for automating the micropipetting technique is presented, allowing to redirect the operator to other non-repetitive tasks, aiming to reduce the exposure to ergonomic risks. The proposed robotic solution has an innovative gripping system capable of supporting, actuating and regulating the volume of a manual micropipette. The system is able to configure the position of diverse laboratory materials, such as lab containers and plates, on the workbench through a collaborative robotic arm, providing flexibility to adapt to different procedures. A projected human-machine interface, which combines the display of information on the workbench with an infrared based interaction device was developed, providing a more intuitive interaction between the operator and the system during the configuration and operation phases. In contrast to the majority of the existing liquid handling systems, the proposed system allows the operator to place the materials freely on the workbench and the usage of different materials' variants, facilitating the implementation of the system in any laboratory. The attained performance and ease of use of the system were very encouraging since all the defined tasks in the conducted experiments were successfully performed by users with minimum training, highlighting its potential inclusion in the laboratory routine panorama.

Abstract
Bin picking is a challenging problem that involves using a robotic manipulator to remove, one-by-one, a set of objects randomly stacked in a container. In order to provide ground truth data for evaluating heuristic or machine learning perception systems, this paper proposes using simulation to create bin picking environments in which a procedural generation method builds entangled tubes that can have curvatures throughout their length. The output of the simulation is an annotated point cloud, generated by a virtual 3D depth camera, in which the tubes are assigned with unique colors. A general metric based on micro-recall is proposed to compare the accuracy of point cloud annotations with the ground truth. The synthetic data is representative of a high quality 3D scanner, given that the performance of a tube modeling system when given 640 simulated point clouds was similar to the results achieved with real sensor data. Therefore, simulation is a promising technique for the automated evaluation of solutions for bin picking tasks.