Autonomous Shopping Cart Train System for Residential Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Residents in residential communities face congestion and time wastage due to traveling for errands, as they need to transport goods to and from merchants, which can be alleviated by a train-based delivery system that autonomously routes shopping carts between homes and merchants.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where a train track is formed adjacent to homes in a residential community, with boarding locations at each home, allowing shopping carts to be autonomously routed to merchants via a centralized server that enables communication and routing algorithms, including electronic commerce capabilities, and includes features like obstacle detection and lighting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If residents travel to merchants to transport goods, then personal control over goods is maintained, but traffic congestion increases and time is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The shopping cart system operates autonomously without requiring resident intervention. The cart navigates independently from the merchant back to the resident's home, performing the delivery service automatically. This eliminates the need for residents to personally transport goods, thereby reducing travel time and congestion while maintaining service quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous shopping cart serves as an intermediary between the merchant and the resident. Instead of the resident directly traveling to the merchant, the cart acts as a mediator that transports goods independently. This intermediary system resolves the contradiction by handling the transportation task without requiring resident presence or active participation in the travel process.
2Productivity
If autonomous shopping carts are deployed, then delivery efficiency improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized server performs multiple functions: it manages routing for all shopping carts, tracks their locations, coordinates with merchants, and communicates with residents. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional system, the patent reduces overall system complexity compared to having separate specialized systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors shopping cart locations and delivery status, then adjusts routing instructions accordingly. This feedback mechanism allows the centralized server to optimize delivery routes in real-time based on actual conditions, improving delivery efficiency while managing complexity through adaptive control rather than rigid pre-programming.
3Ease of operation
If train tracks are installed in the community, then autonomous navigation is enabled, but infrastructure cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The train track system is implemented locally within the residential community rather than across the entire city. The tracks are confined to specific pathways between merchants and residences, creating a localized infrastructure solution. This approach enables autonomous navigation where needed while limiting the overall infrastructure complexity and cost to a manageable local scale.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional road-based transportation to a dedicated one-dimensional track-based system. By constraining movement to fixed track paths, the system simplifies navigation complexity (the cart only needs to follow the track) while enabling autonomous operation. This dimensional change trades flexibility for ease of autonomous control.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a method and a system of a train based community, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a train track adjacent to a set of homes in a residential community, placing a boarding location in a property boundary of each one of the set of homes in the residential community, and routing the train track to a merchant in the residential community. A shopping cart is autonomously routed from at least one boarding location of the property boundary to the merchant based on a request of an occupier of a home associated with the property boundary.