Modular Automated Retail Store for High-Density Robotic Fulfillment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional retail stores face limitations in space optimization, customer convenience, and efficiency due to physical constraints, while automated solutions often require human intervention, struggle with freshness of perishable items, and have high setup and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
An automated retail system with modular storage shelves, item retrieval systems, and customer lockers, utilizing robotics and 3D vision for efficient storage, retrieval, and inventory management, allowing for unmanned operation, temperature-controlled storage, and customizable customer experiences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional physical stores are designed with shelves at reachable height and aisle space for customer walkways, then customer accessibility is improved, but space utilization and storage capacity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual shelving and customer retrieval with an automated robotic system. Robots equipped with grippers and navigation systems automatically retrieve items from high-density storage locations and deliver them to customers, eliminating the need for low shelves and wide aisles. This substitution enables vertical storage optimization while maintaining customer accessibility through automated service.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through automated robots that independently navigate storage areas, locate items, retrieve them, and deliver to designated customer pickup points. The robots autonomously manage the entire retrieval process without human intervention in the storage zones, enabling high-density storage while preserving customer access through automated fulfillment.
2Ease of operation
If stores operate continuously 24 hours a day with staff, then customer convenience is improved, but operational costs deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The automated storage and retrieval system operates autonomously 24/7 without requiring human staff. Robots continuously perform item retrieval, inventory management, and restocking tasks automatically. The system integrates with online ordering platforms to receive orders, locate items, retrieve them, and prepare them for customer pickup at any time, eliminating labor costs while maintaining continuous operation and customer convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human staff performing manual retrieval and inventory tasks with an automated robotic system. The robots use sensors, navigation algorithms, and automated grippers to perform all storage and retrieval operations continuously without breaks, shifts, or additional labor costs, enabling 24/7 operation at reduced operational expenses.
3Device complexity
If automated shop solutions use fixed vehicle sizes or store layouts, then system complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different locations and customer needs deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The automated retail system is divided into modular, independently functional units including robotic vehicles, storage modules, and customer pickup stations. Each robot operates as an autonomous module that can be deployed independently or in coordination with others. This segmentation allows the system to be configured in different layouts and adapted to various location constraints without redesigning the entire system, maintaining relatively simple individual components while achieving high overall adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic routing algorithms and flexible robot deployment strategies that adapt to different store layouts, traffic patterns, and customer demands in real-time. Robots can dynamically adjust their paths, speeds, and task priorities based on environmental conditions and operational requirements, enabling the same standardized robot models to effectively operate in diverse locations and configurations without physical modifications.
Data Source
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AI summary
An automated retail store system, including: a store control system controlled by signals generated based on order information for a customer including information representing items and a pickup time; storage shelf units with internal portions having different predefined modular configurations, for storing a removable storage container; locker units with internal portions for providing a locker compartment; item retrieval systems controlled by said store control system to retrieve ordered items from storage containers, place those items into a delivery container, which is then placed into a locker compartment; and a verification system adapted to operate under the control of said store control system for verifying the customer's identity or unique identifier for said order.