Oh, patents! The Robomart™

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Back to robots, their expanded role within the context of the pandemic and re-opening of economies. The Robomart™ is a driverless autonomous mini-market on wheels. Already in operation, prior to the pandemic, the Robomart™ offered a mobile-driven mini-market, wherever customers ordered it to drive by. The Robomart™ was successful because it was not just saving customers time, going to the grocery store, it raised the bar on the experience of online shopping, allowing customers to see, and choose the produce they were buying, wherever they were located. Advantages that became amplified during the pandemic, when everyone was confined, and the demand for online shopping skyrocketed. 

Indeed, the Robomart™ became especially attractive, since it offered contactless delivery of produce, via a robotic operator that never got sick. As an autonomous vehicle, the Robomart™ delivery van is equipped with all the standard AI self-driving technology, such as LiDAR, radar and cameras, CAN motion-control system, robotic route-planning and obstacle-avoidance software, enabling various levels of autonomy from a human operator. 

The video below shows The Robomart™ in action. After viewing the video you might legitimately wonder how it is that the Robomart™ knows which merchandise has been selected, “checked-out”, and debited to your credit card. This question has a patented answer.

The Robomart invention recited in US20180349872 is titled One tap/command grocery ordering via self-driving mini-marts and seamless checkout-free technology. The abstract, together with the patent Figure 3, are included below.

The present disclosure generally relates to an application for obtaining groceries or other merchandise and, more particularly, a one tap/command grocery ordering via self-driving mini marts and seamless checkout-free technology. The method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions and is operable to: deploy an autonomous vehicle which carries consumer merchandise to a consumer; determine which merchandise has been taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer; calculate a cost for the merchandise taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer; and provide a receipt to the consumer for the merchandise taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer. [Abstract US20180349872]

 

US20180349872

The invention recites a system that advantageously combines the convenience of online delivery with the comfort of picking out produce yourself. An invention that also promises cost savings, passed on to customers, resulting from the fully automated system. The patent further discloses that an entire mini store is brought to the consumer vs. just an order of groceries. Thus, the Robomart™ is effectively able to compete with delivery bots and drones, as it offers a much larger selection of produce and groceries. 

According to the disclosure of the invention, the user taps on the Robomart™ app to dispatch the closest Robomart™ van 100, from a store, to their location. On its way, the Robomart™ van 100 will be tracked by the user. When the Robomart™ van 100 arrives, the user opens the compartment doors and selects items. A seamless check out system is invoked as tagged selections are recorded by sensors 105, on the racks, while prices and costs are displayed on a smart glass panel 110 of the van compartment doors, together with the customer’s name. Once the purchase is completed, debited using POS (Point-of-Sale) means from the user’s saved credit card, time-stamped according to the opening and closing of the van compartment doors, and processed using the Stripe platform on the backend, the Robomart™ van 100 moves on to the next customer, or to a replenishment center for refilling the racks, all of which can be tracked variously by users and managers, equipped with the Robomart™ app.

Receipt of purchased items might be itemized in various ways, depending on the embodiments of the invention. For example, items purchased might be listed, or they might include images. The information displayed on the smart glass compartment 110 might also be displayed simultaneously on the Robomart™ app.

The patent additionally recites various levels of self-driving vehicle technology i.e., radar and LIDAR; other cameras or backup Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems for computation of items removed or added to shelves; other sensors (motion, proximity and infrared); modems for connectivity; a speaker for communication with the customer, and a cooling system for refrigeration. The patent further includes a description of the system architecture, as well as a description of real-time mapping, and tracking technology, the restocking depots and vehicle communications technology, and the on-demand summoning technology.

References

Robomart (website) https://robomart.co/

Tarantola, A. (Jan 9, 2018) Robomart autonomous bodegas will deliver produce to your door https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-09-robomart-autonomous-bodega-deliver-produce.html