Wheel skid detection during mechanized cart retrieval

摘要

A vehicle tracking system includes a wheel containing sensor circuitry capable of sensing various types of conditions, such as wheel rotation, wheel vibration caused by skidding, and specific electromagnetic and/or magnetic signals indicative of particular wheel locations. The sensor circuitry is coupled to an RF transceiver, which may but need not be included within the wheel. The wheel may also include a brake mechanism. In one embodiment, the wheels are placed on shopping carts and are used to collect and monitor shopping cart status and location data via a wireless network. The collected data may be used for various purposes, such as locking the wheel of an exiting cart if the customer has not paid, estimating numbers of queued carts, stopping wheel skid events that occur during mechanized cart retrieval, store planning, and providing location-based messaging to customers.

主权项

1. A method of reducing wheel damage to carts retrieved by a mechanized cart retrieval unit, the method comprising:
detecting a wheel skid event via a vibration sensor included in a wheel assembly of a cart being retrieved by the mechanized cart retrieval unit, wherein detecting the wheel skid event comprises, by a controller in the wheel assembly, determining whether a vibration signal generated by the vibration sensor corresponds to a skid profile of a wheel; and in response to detecting the wheel skid event, transmitting a message to the mechanized cart retrieval unit over a wireless communication link to cause the mechanized cart retrieval unit to take a corrective action.