Shopping facility assistance systems, devices and methods to detect and handle incorrectly placed items
First Claim
1. A system to address incorrectly placed items, comprising:
- a plurality of motorized transport units that are each configured to perform multiple different tasks at a retail shopping facility; and
a central computer system configured to instruct various ones of the plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility, receive and analyze input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks, and detect and categorize each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories;
wherein the central computer system is further configured to;
determine for each of the multiple items, based on the respective categorization of each of the multiple items, a location of multiple predefined different potential locations of the retail shopping facility the categorized item is to be taken;
communicate an instruction, relative to each of the categorized items, to cause the categorized item to be taken to the determined location, comprising confirm that a first item has been at a first location where the first item was detected for more than a threshold period of time prior to communicating a first instruction to cause the first item to be taken to a determined second location relative to a first categorization of the first item.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided to address incorrectly placed items. Some systems comprise: a plurality of motorized transport units that are each configured to perform multiple different tasks at a retail shopping facility; and a central computer system configured to instruct various ones of the plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility, receive and analyze input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks, and detect and categorize each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories.
704 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system to address incorrectly placed items, comprising:
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a plurality of motorized transport units that are each configured to perform multiple different tasks at a retail shopping facility; and a central computer system configured to instruct various ones of the plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility, receive and analyze input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks, and detect and categorize each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories; wherein the central computer system is further configured to; determine for each of the multiple items, based on the respective categorization of each of the multiple items, a location of multiple predefined different potential locations of the retail shopping facility the categorized item is to be taken; communicate an instruction, relative to each of the categorized items, to cause the categorized item to be taken to the determined location, comprising confirm that a first item has been at a first location where the first item was detected for more than a threshold period of time prior to communicating a first instruction to cause the first item to be taken to a determined second location relative to a first categorization of the first item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system to address incorrectly placed items, comprising:
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a plurality of motorized transport units that are each configured to perform multiple different tasks at a retail shopping facility; and a central computer system configured to instruct various ones of the plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility, receive and analyze input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks, and detect and categorize each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories; wherein the central computer system is further configured to; determine for each of the items, based on the categorization of the items, a location of multiple predefined different potential locations of the retail shopping facility the categorized item is to be taken; and communicate an instruction, relative to each of the categorized items, to cause the categorized item to be taken to the determined location; and wherein the central computer system in categorizing each of the multiple items determines that a first item is not a retail item being offered for sale by the retail shopping facility, and further determines that the first item is presumed to be owned by a customer and should not be discarded; and the central computer system, in determining the location, determines that the first item is to be taken to a lost and found location.
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10. A method to address incorrectly placed items, comprising:
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by a central computer system for a retail shopping facility; tasking various ones of a plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility; receiving and analyzing input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks; detecting and categorizing each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories; determining for each of the items, based on the categorization of the items, a location of multiple predefined different potential locations of the retail shopping facility the categorized item is to be taken; communicating an instruction, relative to each of the categorized items, to cause the categorized item to be taken to the determined location; and wherein the communicating the instruction comprises confirming that a first item of the categorized items has been at a first location where the first item was detected for more than a first threshold period of time prior to communicating a first instruction to cause the first item to be taken to a determined second location relative to a first categorization of the first item. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method to address incorrectly placed items, comprising:
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by a central computer system for a retail shopping facility; tasking various ones of a plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility; receiving and analyzing input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks; detecting and categorizing each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories; wherein the categorizing each of the multiple items comprises; determining that a first item is not a retail item being offered for sale by the retail shopping facility and determining that the first item is presumed to be owned by a customer and should not be discarded; and wherein the determining the location comprises determining that the first item is to be taken to a lost and found location.
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Specification