RASCAL: A Scalable, High-redundancy Robot for Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems

Automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) are a key component of the modern storage industry, and are used in a wide range of applications, carrying anything from lightweight tape cartridges to entire pallets of goods. Many of these systems are under pressure to maximise the use of space by growing in height and density, but this can create challenges for the the robots that service them. In this context, we present RASCAL, a novel ASRS robot for small payload items in structured environments, with a focus on system-level scalability and redundancy. We describe the design objectives of RASCAL and how they address some of the limitations of existing robotic systems in this area, such as scalability and redundancy. We then demonstrate the viability of our design with a proof-of-concept implementation of a data centre storage media robot, and show through a series of experiments that its design, speed, accuracy, and energy efficiency are appropriate for this application.