Automated Retail Retrieval and Locker Pickup for Dense Item Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional retail stores face limitations in item variety, quantity, and space utilization due to physical constraints, while online shopping requires human intervention for fulfillment, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors.
Innovation Solution
An automated retail system with online ordering, robotic storage and retrieval, and locker-based delivery, utilizing 3D-vision and backend software for inventory management, enabling unmanned operation and scheduled item handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If traditional physical stores are used, then customers can purchase items in person, but space utilization is limited and item variety is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional horizontal shelf arrangements to vertical automated storage systems with multiple levels and layers. The automated storage and retrieval system utilizes vertical space extensively, allowing items to be stacked and organized in three-dimensional space rather than limited to horizontal shelving, thereby dramatically increasing storage capacity within the same floor area.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs automated robots and mechanical arms that can autonomously retrieve items from storage without human intervention. These self-service mechanisms navigate the vertical storage structures, locate requested items, and deliver them to customers, eliminating the need for manual shelving and item retrieval while maximizing space utilization.
2Duration of action of moving object
If traditional stores operate 24 hours, then continuous service is provided, but additional staff are required increasing costs
Solution Approach 1:
The automated storage and retrieval system operates autonomously without requiring human staff for item pickup, shelving, or inventory management. Robots and automated mechanisms handle all customer service functions including receiving orders, retrieving items from vertical storage, and delivering purchases, enabling the store to operate continuously at any hour without additional personnel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces human mechanical labor with automated robotic systems. Mechanical arms, conveyors, and navigation robots perform all physical tasks previously requiring staff members, such as picking items from shelves, managing inventory, and assisting customers, thereby eliminating the need for continuous human presence while maintaining 24-hour operations.
3Quantity of substance
If online shopping is used, then item selection is expanded, but human intervention in fulfillment causes errors and delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces human fulfillment operations with automated robotic retrieval mechanisms. Robots accurately locate and retrieve specific items from vertical storage based on digital orders, eliminating human errors in picking and packing. The automated system ensures precise item selection and delivery, maintaining high fulfillment accuracy while preserving the expanded item selection benefits of online shopping.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated system incorporates feedback mechanisms where sensors and scanners verify item retrieval accuracy in real-time. The system receives digital orders, processes them through automated retrieval, and confirms successful fulfillment by verifying item identification and delivery, creating a closed-loop system that ensures accuracy and reduces errors throughout the fulfillment process.
4Ease of operation
If shelves are positioned at reachable height, then customer accessibility is improved, but storage capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves from two-dimensional horizontal shelving to three-dimensional vertical storage structures with multiple levels. Items are organized across different heights and depths, with automated robots capable of accessing items at any vertical position. This vertical expansion dramatically increases storage capacity while the automated retrieval system ensures items remain accessible regardless of their vertical location.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated retrieval system handles the complexity of accessing items at various heights, eliminating the need for customers to physically reach high shelves. Robots autonomously navigate vertical storage structures, locate requested items at any height, and deliver them to customers, maintaining ease of access while enabling extensive vertical storage capacity that would be inaccessible without automation.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated retail store system for storage of items and scheduled handling of a customer order may include a store control system adapted to operate under the control of control signals generated based on order information for an order by a customer. The order information may include information representing one or more items and a pickup time. The system may include a plurality of storage channels, a retrieval system adapted to operate under the control of the store control system, a conveyor system adapted to operate under the control of the store control system, and a verification system adapted to operate under the control of the store control system to verify an identity of the customer or a unique identifier for the order and allow the customer to access items in a locker compartment only when the identity or the identifier has been successfully verified.