Mobile Robotic Units for Automated Inventory Pod Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional online order delivery systems face challenges in providing timely, accurate, and cost-effective delivery while handling returns, with existing methods being costly and inefficient, particularly for grocery retailers using click-&-collect and locker systems.
Innovation Solution
A fully automated pod system utilizing mobile robotic units (MRUs) for inventory management, which receives online orders at a replenishment station and delivers them to customers at a delivery station, optimizing slot availability and reducing costs through efficient transportation and storage of inventory carriers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional delivery methods (click-&-collect, lockers) are used, then delivery capability is provided, but cost increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling systems with automated mobile robotic units that autonomously navigate, identify, and transport inventory carriers. The robotic units use computer vision, navigation algorithms, and automated guidance systems to perform delivery tasks without human intervention, significantly improving efficiency while reducing operational costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile robotic units operate autonomously to perform delivery tasks independently. Each robotic unit can navigate to designated locations, identify inventory carriers through barcode or RFID scanning, and transport items without requiring human operators for each specific delivery task, enabling self-service delivery operations.
2Ease of operation
If manual operated click-&-collect systems are used, then delivery process is simple, but handling returns becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where robotic units receive real-time instructions about return procedures and inventory carrier statuses. The system tracks inventory carrier locations, identifies items requiring return, and automatically executes return handling operations based on updated instructions, simplifying the return process while maintaining operational simplicity.
3Ease of operation
If locker systems are used for delivery, then customer pickup is convenient, but storage capacity is limited and replenishment cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses mobile robotic units that dynamically navigate between storage locations and delivery points. The robotic units can access inventory carriers stored in various locations within the facility and transport them to designated pickup locations, providing flexible storage capacity while maintaining convenience for customers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments storage into multiple locations and uses multiple mobile robotic units to manage inventory carriers. This segmentation allows the system to provide extensive storage capacity distributed across different areas while maintaining efficient replenishment and delivery operations through coordinated robotic unit operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing inventory carriers using mobile robotic units (MRUs) in a pod that is configured to receive online orders at a replenishment station for pickup by customers at a delivery station includes receiving, by an MRU, instructions that identify a first inventory carrier, moving the MRU to a location of the identified inventory carrier, and using the MRU to transport the identified inventory carrier to the replenishment station for pickup by a delivery vehicle.