Autonomous Vending Machine Body Swapping for Remote Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The inefficiency and cost-effectiveness of maintaining vending machines, particularly in remote locations, due to the need for frequent site visits by service personnel for replenishment, product changes, inspections, and repairs, which limits their installation in areas requiring long travel for maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A separable vehicle system comprising a chassis unit that can travel autonomously and couple/decouple from a vehicle body unit, allowing for remote maintenance by replacing vending machines with maintained units, reducing the need for on-site visits by service personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If vending machines are installed in remote locations, then service coverage is expanded, but maintenance efficiency deteriorates due to long travel times for service personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle is divided into a chassis unit and a vehicle body unit that can be separated. The vehicle body unit containing the vending machine can be detached from the chassis unit, allowing the chassis to return to base while the body unit remains at the remote location or is transported independently for maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle body unit is designed to be autonomously transportable or maintainable as a separate entity. This allows the vending machine unit to serve itself in remote locations without requiring the entire vehicle and service personnel to travel back and forth frequently.
2Reliability
If service personnel frequently visit remote locations for maintenance, then vending machine reliability is maintained, but operational costs increase due to travel time and resources
Solution Approach 1:
The separable vehicle system allows preliminary maintenance actions to be performed on the vehicle body unit while it is still attached to the chassis or in a intermediate state, reducing the need for complete disassembly and frequent trips to remote locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle body unit acts as an intermediary between the chassis unit and the remote location. It can be coupled to the chassis for transport to base for maintenance, then decoupled for deployment to remote locations, serving as a mediator that separates maintenance operations from service operations.
3Ease of operation
If vending machines are maintained in place at remote locations, then service personnel burden is reduced, but maintenance complexity increases due to limited access
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the vehicle into chassis and body units, the system simplifies maintenance operations. The vehicle body unit can be independently accessed, removed, or replaced without affecting the chassis, reducing the complexity of on-site maintenance at remote locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows the vehicle body unit to be temporarily left at remote locations after delivering the vending machine, then recovered or replaced by a new body unit when maintenance is needed. This discards the complexity of on-site maintenance by simply replacing the entire body unit.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus disclosed has a controller configured to execute the processing of, when a first vehicle body unit on which a first vending machine is mounted is laid at a specific place, determining a time for maintenance defined as a time to perform maintenance of the first vending machine, and sending a replacement command to a chassis unit that is configured in such a way as to be capable of travelling autonomously and being coupled to and separated from a vehicle body unit, as per the time for maintenance. The replacement command is a command to transport a second vehicle body unit on which a second vending machine is mounted to the specific place and retrieve the first vehicle body unit from the specific place.