Mobile Locker Autonomous Navigation for Venue Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Patrons of large venues face challenges in carrying and storing items due to the burden of carrying unneeded items all day, and existing storage lockers can be inconvenient to access, especially if located far away.
Innovation Solution
A mobile locker system with a storage container coupled to a mobility unit, equipped with navigation, proximity sensors, communication, and power units, allowing secure, remote-controlled, and monitored storage and retrieval of items throughout a venue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If items are stored in fixed physical lockers, then storage security is improved, but accessibility and convenience deteriorate when lockers are located far from users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms fixed, static lockers into mobile, dynamic units that can autonomously navigate to users' locations. The mobile locker includes a mobility unit with wheels and a navigation system, allowing it to move from a secure base location to any point in the venue, thereby maintaining security while dramatically improving accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile locker acts as an intermediary between the secure storage facility and the user. It picks up items from the secure base, transports them to the user's location, and delivers them, thereby mediating the conflict between secure centralized storage and convenient distributed access.
2Ease of operation
If users carry all items throughout the day, then immediate accessibility is improved, but physical burden and inconvenience increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the storage function from the user's personal load. Instead of users carrying all items, the mobile locker independently performs the storage and retrieval function, leaving users to carry only what they immediately need, thereby reducing physical burden while maintaining accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile locker provides self-service by autonomously navigating to users, opening its compartment, and delivering items without requiring users to physically transport storage containers. The navigation unit and automated compartment mechanism enable the locker to serve itself and users independently.
3Ease of operation
If mobile lockers are deployed throughout a venue, then accessibility is improved, but system complexity and monitoring requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile locker is designed as a universal platform that integrates multiple functions: secure storage, autonomous navigation, wireless communication, and remote monitoring. This multi-functionality allows a single device type to handle all storage and retrieval operations throughout the venue, simplifying deployment and management despite the distributed nature of the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile locker incorporates a transceiver that enables continuous two-way communication with a remote monitoring center. This feedback mechanism allows centralized monitoring of locker status, location, and operational state, enabling the management of multiple distributed lockers through a single control point and reducing the operational complexity of having numerous autonomous units.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments disclosed herein include a mobile locker. The mobile locker can include a mobility unit to enable the locker to relocate from one location to another. The mobile locker is modular which allows the storage compartment to be detached from the mobility unit for storage, transfer via other means. The storage compartment can be coupled either the same or a different mobility unit. The mobile lockers can be recalled by a customer to either the customer's location or to designated locations at the venue. The lockers can include any one of multiple locking mechanisms. The mobile locker can communicate with a monitoring center that oversees the deployment of multiple mobile lockers. Embodiments of the mobile locker can interact with customers through a display, microphone, and speaker.