As mobile manipulators began to ach

As mobile manipulators began to achieve high evalu-ations in the field of logistics, many start-ups commer-cialized their mobile manipulators concurrently with theAmazon Picking Challenge. A major Japanese electron-ics manufacturer conducted a demonstration using theirmobile manipulator after participating in the AmazonRobotics Challenge, suggesting that those technologiescould be introduced in warehouses in the not-too-distantfuture. Because mobile manipulators still have a num-ber of technical issues to be resolved, such as their accu-racy and ease of use, ordinary (existing) industrial robotarms will be put into practical use sooner. MUJIN, one ofJapanese start-ups, has succeeded in automating simplepick-and-place tasks in distribution warehouses with theiroriginal motion controller. Whether the industrial robotmarket in the field of logistics is exploited at the presentpace depends on how many more examples of industrialrobots will come out that are both applicable to the fieldof logistics and that possess the necessary technical andmarket viability.