Workspace adaptive robotic system to load or unload pallets or other receptacles

A method of controlling a robotic arm, comprising:

• receiving image data;
• using the image data to identify an item associated with a topmost receptacle in a stack of one or more stackable receptacles;
• controlling the robotic arm to perform a pick and place operation on the item with respect to the topmost receptacle in the stack of one or more stackable receptacles;
• and
• continuing successive iterations of identifying, picking, and placing items, until a stop condition is determined to have been met, the stop condition including one or more of determining no further items remain to be processed and determining that the stack of one or more stackable receptacles includes a maximum permitted number of stackable receptacles.

A computer program product to control a robotic arm, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

• receiving image data;
• using the image data to identify an item associated with a topmost receptacle in a stack of one or more stackable receptacles;
• controlling the robotic arm to perform a pick and place operation on the item with respect to the topmost receptacle in the stack of one or more stackable receptacles;
• and
• continuing successive iterations of identifying, picking, and placing items, until a stop condition is determined to have been met, the stop condition including one or more of determining no further items remain to be processed and determining that the stack of one or more stackable receptacles includes a maximum permitted number of stackable receptacles.