Robotic Shopping Cart Item Placement for Safe Aisle Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shopping for elderly or disabled individuals is challenging due to inaccessible and hazardous items in crowded store aisles, and modern shopping methods require optimization of in-store experiences with numerous products.
Innovation Solution
A robot system equipped with an electronic control unit, camera, and robotic arm that captures image data, determines handling instructions, and manipulates the arm to collect and place items in a holding compartment based on environmental and item data, optimizing storage locations according to item classifications and safety considerations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If stores pack more items in aisles to reduce square footage, then product prices can be kept low, but items become inaccessible and hazardous for elderly or disabled shoppers
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic shopping cart performs item collection and placement operations autonomously without human intervention. The robot navigates aisles, identifies products, picks items from shelves, and places them in the holding compartment, enabling the system to serve itself and eliminating the need for shoppers to physically access difficult-to-reach items
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual shopping with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm with gripper mechanisms substitutes human hands, while the robot's navigation system replaces human locomotion. This mechanical substitution allows access to items at any height or position that would be inaccessible to human shoppers
2Quantity of substance
If stores pack more items in aisles to reduce square footage, then product prices can be kept low, but safety hazards increase for shoppers
Solution Approach 1:
The robot autonomously performs all shopping operations including navigation, item identification, picking, and placement. This self-service capability eliminates exposure to safety hazards associated with crowded aisles, heavy items, and difficult-to-reach products
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system replaces human physical interaction with hazardous items. The robot's sensors, robotic arm, and gripper mechanisms handle items that would be unsafe for human shoppers to manipulate, including heavy, fragile, or awkwardly positioned objects
3Extent of automation
If a robotic arm is added to the holding compartment, then item collection and placement becomes automated, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic arm is designed with multi-functionality to perform various item handling tasks including picking, placing, and manipulating different types of products. The gripper mechanism can adjust its grip strength and configuration to handle diverse item sizes, shapes, and weights, reducing the need for multiple specialized components
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic arm mechanism is integrated within the holding compartment structure, with components nested within each other to minimize space requirements. The arm folds or retracts when not in use, and sensors and actuators are embedded within the mechanical structure rather than added as separate external components
Data Source
AI summary
A robot system includes a holding compartment configured to transport one or more items and an electronic control unit having a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory including a machine-readable instruction set. The robot system further includes a camera for capturing image data of an environment of the holding compartment and a robotic arm each communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit. The machine-readable instruction set causes the processor to receive image data of the environment of the holding compartment from the camera, determine a set of handling instructions for an item collected by the robotic arm, determine a location within the holding compartment for placing the item collected by the robotic arm based on the image data of the environment of the holding compartment and the set of handling instructions, and manipulate the robotic arm to place the item within the holding compartment at the determined location.