Towards 6G-Driven Cooperative Robot Framework for Unified Sensing in Smart Warehouses

Rapidly changing conditions, such as continuous layout shifts and process adaptions in smart warehouses pose challenges for robot mapping and navigation. Single-robot perception is inadequate in spaces full of moving obstacles. Advanced communication and perception capabilities are required to accomplish multi-robot perception and collective environmental awareness. 6G emerges as a promising solution with UltraReliable Low-Latency Communication (uRLLC) and Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), as 5G cannot fully support time-critical tasks. While 6G-driven Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) cooperative communication made significant strides in the automotive sector, its potential in intralogistics is underexplored. Leveraging V2X concepts of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) standards, addressing gaps in 6G ISAC, and robotics standardization are vital steps toward a 6G-driven multirobot framework for warehouses. This paper presents the 6GRoboFUSE (Framework for Unified Sensing and Exploration), designed for collaborative robotic perception using 6G ISAC. It paves the way for standardized 6G frameworks, enabling safe, efficient, and cooperative operations in intralogistics. For empirical validation, we test the ISAC management and controller (ISMAC) protocol in a robot platform. The results reveal that the robot’s actions impact resource allocation, affecting the sensing and communication time slot allocations of ISMAC.