Obstacle-Sensing Cart Alignment for Parallel Stops in Crowded Spaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional carts require significant user effort and time to control, and when they stop, they can interfere with other carts or pedestrians, especially when stopping obliquely in crowded spaces, necessitating a solution to increase movement efficiency and prevent collisions by allowing carts to stop parallel to installed objects.
Innovation Solution
A cart equipped with obstacle sensors and a controller that calculates distances to adjacent installed objects, allowing the cart to move and stop parallel to them, thereby reducing the likelihood of collisions and optimizing space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cart stops autonomously or semi-autonomously in a crowded space, then the user can move freely without separate control, but the stopped cart may interfere with the pass of other devices or people
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the stopping behavior specific to the local environment - the cart detects installed objects (walls, shelves, displays) and adjusts its stopping orientation locally to be parallel to these objects. This localized adaptation ensures that while the cart stops autonomously, it does so in a way that minimizes interference with pedestrian and device passage in crowded spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the orientation parameter of the cart when stopping. Instead of stopping in a fixed orientation, the cart adjusts its stopping angle to be parallel to detected installed objects. This parameter change (orientation adjustment) allows the cart to stop autonomously while reducing interference with the surrounding environment.
2Speed
If the cart stops obliquely in a space with many carts, then the cart can stop quickly, but it may interfere with the movement of other carts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adapting the cart's stopping orientation to the local environment - specifically parallel to installed objects like walls, shelves, or display units. This localized orientation adjustment ensures that even when stopping quickly, the cart aligns with the surrounding infrastructure, creating predictable and safe stopping patterns that prevent interference with other carts moving through the space.
3Productivity
If the cart stops parallel and close to an installed object, then the movement efficiency of multiple carts is increased, but the cart requires distance calculation and selection logic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the cart continuously detect and calculate distances to installed objects during movement, not just when stopping. The controller maintains ready information about nearby installed objects and their orientations, so when a stop is needed, the cart can quickly select an appropriate parallel stopping position without complex real-time calculations, thereby improving movement efficiency while managing control logic complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed herein are a cart stopping parallel to an installed object and a method of stopping the same. In the cart stopping parallel to an installed object, a pause state of the cart is determined, and when an obstacle sensor calculates distances from obstacles, the cart moves such that the cart is placed parallel and close to an adjacent one of installed objects disposed around the cart.