Motorized cart retriever for monitoring cart status
A motorized cart retriever, which may be a cart pusher or a cart puller, can apply a force to a nest of human-propelled, wheeled carts to facilitate retrieval of the carts. The cart retriever can include a transceiver configured to wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts and wirelessly report event data to a control unit. The cart status information may include an identification of the cart transmitter, a location of the cart, a lock or unlock status of a cart wheel, a misuse condition, etc. The event data can include the cart status information, a number of wheeled carts being retrieved, etc. The cart wheel may include a brake. The transceiver may communicate a message to the cart wheel to keep the brake unactuated during retrieval. The control unit may analyze the event data to detect traffic patterns of the carts.
1. A cart retriever system comprising:
a motorized cart retriever configured to retrieve human-propelled, wheeled carts; and
a control unit comprising a handheld mobile control unit (MCU) configured to control the motorized cart retriever;
the cart retriever comprising: a transceiver, the transceiver configured to:
wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts, wherein the cart status information comprises at least one of:
an identification of the cart transmitter;
a location of the wheeled cart;
a lock or unlock status of the wheel;
a number of lock or unlock cycles performed;
a battery level for a battery in the wheel;
a result of a diagnostic operation or detected fault;
a received signal strength indication (RSSI); or
a misuse condition; and
wirelessly report event data to the control unit, the event data comprising at least one of:
the cart status information;
a timestamp;
an event type;
an identification of the transceiver of the cart retriever; or
a number of wheeled carts being retrieved by the cart retriever.
2. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , wherein the cart status information comprises the misuse condition, and in response to detection of the misuse condition, the transceiver is configured to:
disable the motorized cart retriever; or
report the misuse condition to the control unit; or
activate an alarm on the cart retriever.
3. The cart retriever system of claim 2 , wherein the misuse condition comprises attempting to retrieve a number of wheeled carts that exceeds an authorized number.
4. The cart retriever system of claim 3 , wherein the cart transmitters comprise cart transceivers, and to detect the misuse condition, the transceiver is configured to:
broadcast a queue count command to the cart transceivers of the wheeled carts;
receive transmissions from the cart transceivers; and
apply a clustering algorithm to the received transmissions to estimate the number of wheeled carts being retrieved.
5. The cart retriever system of claim 4 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to identify the wheeled carts being retrieved.
6. The cart retriever system of claim 2 , wherein the misuse condition comprises a skid event associated with a wheel of a cart being retrieved.
7. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , further comprising a directional antenna configured to create a zone for communicating with a nest of carts being retrieved.
8. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate to a nest of carts being retrieved at least one of the following commands:
a “you are being retrieved” command to the carts in the nest; or
an unlock command to the carts in the nest such that wheels of the carts in the nest are in an unlocked state while being retrieved; or
a command to at least one cart at the front of the nest to apply partial braking so that the nest of cars does not become un-nested.
9. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , wherein the event data comprises the event type, and wherein the event type comprises one or more of: entry or exit of a cart into a zone of an access point, or entry or exit of a cart into a store.
10. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , wherein the MCU is configured to display one or more of: the cart status information, or the event data.
11. The cart retriever system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit comprises a central control unit (CCU) that is physically separate from the cart retriever.
12. The cart retriever system of claim 11 , wherein the CCU is configured to analyze the event data.
13. The cart retriever system of claim 11 , wherein the CCU is configured to analyze the event data to detect traffic patterns or trends in traffic.
14. A cart retriever configured to retrieve human-propelled, wheeled carts, the cart retriever comprising:
a transceiver, the transceiver configured to:
wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts, wherein the cart status information comprises a detection of a misuse condition that comprises attempting to retrieve a number of wheeled carts that exceeds an authorized number;
in response to the detection of the misuse condition, disable the cart retriever or report the misuse condition to the control unit or activate an alarm on the cart retriever; and
wirelessly report event data to a control unit, the event data comprising at least one of:
the cart status information;
a timestamp;
an event type;
an identification of the transceiver of the cart retriever; or
a number of wheeled carts being retrieved by the cart retriever.
15. A cart retriever configured to retrieve human-propelled, wheeled carts, the cart retriever comprising:
a transceiver, the transceiver configured to:
wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts, wherein the cart status information comprises a detection of a misuse condition that comprises a skid event associated with a wheel of a cart being retrieved;
in response to the detection of the misuse condition, disable the cart retriever or report the misuse condition to the control unit or activate an alarm on the cart retriever; and
wirelessly report event data to a control unit, the event data comprising at least one of:
the cart status information;
a timestamp;
an event type;
an identification of the transceiver of the cart retriever; or
a number of wheeled carts being retrieved by the cart retriever.
16. A cart retriever system comprising:
a cart retriever configured to retrieve human-propelled, wheeled carts, the cart retriever comprising a transceiver that is configured to:
wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts, wherein the cart status information comprises at least one of:
an identification of the cart transmitter;
a location of the wheeled cart;
a lock or unlock status of the wheel;
a number of lock or unlock cycles performed;
a battery level for a battery in the wheel;
a result of a diagnostic operation or detected fault;
a received signal strength indication (RSSI); or
a misuse condition; and
wirelessly report event data to a control unit, the event data comprising at least one of:
the cart status information;
a timestamp;
an event type;
an identification of the transceiver of the cart retriever; or
a number of wheeled carts being retrieved by the cart retriever; and
a directional antenna configured to create a zone for communicating with a nest of carts being retrieved.
17. A cart retriever configured to retrieve human-propelled, wheeled carts, the cart retriever comprising:
a transceiver that is configured to:
wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts, wherein the cart status information comprises at least one of:
an identification of the cart transmitter;
a location of the wheeled cart;
a lock or unlock status of the wheel;
a number of lock or unlock cycles performed;
a battery level for a battery in the wheel;
a result of a diagnostic operation or detected fault;
a received signal strength indication (RSSI); or
a misuse condition; and
wirelessly report event data to a control unit that comprises a central control unit (CCU) that is physically separate from the cart retriever and that is configured to analyze the event data to detect traffic patterns or trends in traffic, the event data comprising at least one of:
the cart status information;
a timestamp;
an event type;
an identification of the transceiver of the cart retriever; or
a number of wheeled carts being retrieved by the cart retriever.
18. The cart retriever of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver comprises a microcontroller.
19. The cart retriever of claim 15 , wherein the transceiver comprises a microcontroller.