Kiwi Logistics aims to design and build an autonomous warehouse robot capable of navigating a structured indoor environment, detecting obstacles, and operating within an inventory management workflow. Current warehouse operations depend significantly on extensive physical labor to lift and transport inventory, often leading to a high risk of workplace injury or long-term health problems. The goal of our design is to present a scalable, easy-to-use autonomous inventory management system that tackles the risk of manual labor without eliminating human jobs in warehouse operations.
MAE
2025-2026
Spring
Internally Mentored (faculty, staff, TA)
KIWI Logistics: Autonomous Warehouse Robot
Summary
Technical Approach/Methodology
The system utilizes a camera for tag identification, ultrasonic sensors for object avoidance, and a motorized lifting mechanism mounted onto a four-wheeled carriage to accurately find, pick up, and transport inventory boxes on top of pallets. An additional user interface allows the operator to directly input a desired inventory item to a specific drop-off location, following with notifications of completed retrieval, delivery, and return to home base.
Outcomes
At the end of Spring 2026, Kiwi Logistics has developed an autonomous robot that’s capable of navigating a simulated warehouse environment, fulfilling the desired task of transporting cargo from the pick-up zone to its designated spot on the shelves and vice versa. The environmental setup with tags and QR codes allows for flexibility with zone locations. Future improvements can be done in lift optimization to ensure consistent lowering, battery capacity, wire routing, and fleet testing.
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