PLiBOT was selected as a co-creation partner of The Sumitomo Warehouse Co.,Ltd. under the LOAD 2026 open innovation programme and will begin developing an operating model in which people and robots work together at an operating warehouse.
While their importance as logistics infrastructure is growing, operating warehouses face challenges because cargo characteristics and layouts change daily, resulting in operations that depend on human labour and experience and fragmented information. This initiative aims to realise an operating model that can respond flexibly to such changes.
The co-creation theme is to realise operations that combine integrated control, under which robots from different manufacturers, existing facilities and human operations are managed under a single control system, with reinforcement-learning technology that optimises the travel sequence of multiple units. The aim is to establish a robot operating model that can respond to changes in logistics-site layouts.
PLiBOT is developing a next-generation platform centred on a fleet-control platform that integrates heterogeneous AMRs and AGVs, together with controls that interface with building facilities, applying reinforcement learning without compromising safety or existing logic. Collision avoidance and exclusion control are managed deterministically, while learning is used only to determine travel efficiency.
The demonstration will be conducted at an operating warehouse of The Sumitomo Warehouse Co.,Ltd. through March 2027, with a results presentation scheduled for May–June 2027. The programme is organised by TLCC, operated by Tokyo's TIB CATAPULT and eiicon.