An expandable shade and shelter system that includes an expandable grid structure of reversibly expandable cells in a two-dimensional grid configured to collapse to a rectangular cuboid with a top surface, an anchored bottom, an anchored first end, an expandable second end, and two expandable sides. The system includes a connecting device fixed at corners of the top surface and/or the expandable second end of the structure, a vertically oriented support structure having a top and bottom ends, where the expandable grid structure is configured to expand upwardly from the second end and inwardly towards the top of the vertically oriented support structure, while the anchored first end remains anchored, to connect the connecting device to the top of the vertically oriented support structure to form a three dimensional shelter.

An expanded kiosk and kiosk system that is collapsible and deployable by expansion and contraction. The kiosk includes a lighting system adapted to provide a light characteristic to the kiosk and represent a lamp post or light post for public or private spaces. Deployment of the kiosk includes moving first and second vertically-oriented structural units away from one another such that one or more of a canopy, a working surface and/or a front-facing surface are fully deployed and the canopy surface and working surface are substantially parallel to one another.

An expandable structure that includes front and rear structural units having inside-facing surfaces parallel to one another, a retractable top that spans the front and rear structural units, and first and second retractable partitions each of which spans and connects the front and rear structural units. The front structural unit is fixably attached to a substrate and the rear structural unit is mounted on a rolling mechanism so that the rear structural unit may be moved away from the front structural unit in an orientation perpendicular to the face of the first structural unit to a distance equivalent to a deployed depth of the first retractable partition, the second retractable partition and the retractable top.

An expandable structure that includes front and rear structural units having inside-facing surfaces parallel to one another, a retractable top that spans the front and rear structural units, and first and second retractable partitions each of which spans and connects the front and rear structural units. The front structural unit is fixably attached to a substrate and the rear structural unit is mounted on a rolling mechanism so that the rear structural unit may be moved away from the front structural unit in an orientation perpendicular to the face of the first structural unit to a distance equivalent to a deployed depth of the first retractable partition, the second retractable partition and the retractable top.

A collapsible sun shelter that includes an arch support and a rollable flat mat that is configured to expand to include a canopy section and further includes a floor area portion, an upwardly deployable area portion at least two mat anchor points and at least two arch support openings. The rollable mat has an upwardly deployable area portion defined by an outer perimeter passing through at least one layer of the rollable flat mat such that the upwardly deployable area portion remains connected with the floor area portion when the upwardly deployable area portion is extended upwardly in a deployed configuration.

Apparatuses, components and methods are provided herein useful to provide assistance to customers and/or workers in a shopping facility. In some embodiments, a shopping facility personal assistance system comprises: a plurality of motorized transport units located in and configured to move through a shopping facility space; a plurality of user interface units, each corresponding to a respective motorized transport unit during use of the respective motorized transport unit; and a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system wirelessly communicates with one or both of the plurality of motorized transport units and the plurality of user interface units, wherein the central computer system is configured to control movement of the plurality of motorized transport units through the shopping facility space based at least on inputs from the plurality of user interface units.

Systems and methods of the invention relate to managing an inventory of items within a storage container. A storage container can house one or more items for distribution among one or more users such as, for instance, employees. The storage container discussed herein provides authentication of a user, tracking of the inventory each user removes or returns, video/image capture of user during access of the storage container, wireless tracking of items housed within the storage container, among others.

A storage rack may include a plurality of sections for holding a respective plurality of items. A first section may include, for example, a first vertical support, a second vertical support substantially parallel to the first vertical support, and a first set of horizontal supports substantially perpendicular to the first vertical support and the second vertical support. The first set of horizontal supports may include a first horizontal support disposed at a first height and a first depth in the first vertical support, and a second horizontal support disposed at the first height and the first depth in the second vertical support. The first horizontal support may extend from an inner wall of the first vertical support towards the second vertical support for a distance that is less than half of the distance between the first vertical support and the second vertical support.

A storage rack may include a plurality of sections for holding a respective plurality of items. A first section may include, for example, a first vertical support, a second vertical support substantially parallel to the first vertical support, and a first set of horizontal supports substantially perpendicular to the first vertical support and the second vertical support. The first set of horizontal supports may include a first horizontal support disposed at a first height and a first depth in the first vertical support, and a second horizontal support disposed at the first height and the first depth in the second vertical support. The first horizontal support may extend from an inner wall of the first vertical support towards the second vertical support for a distance that is less than half of the distance between the first vertical support and the second vertical support.

Methods and apparatuses are provided for use in monitoring product placement within a shopping facility. Some embodiments provide an apparatus configured to determine product placement conditions within a shopping facility, comprising: a transceiver configured to wirelessly receive communications; a product monitoring control circuit coupled with the transceiver; a memory coupled with the control circuit and storing computer instructions that when executed by the control circuit cause the control circuit to: obtain a composite three-dimensional (3D) scan mapping corresponding to at least a select area of the shopping facility and based on a series of 3D scan data; evaluate the 3D scan mapping to identify multiple product depth distances; and identify, from the evaluation of the 3D scan mapping, when one or more of the multiple product depth distances is greater than a predefined depth distance threshold from the reference offset distance of the product support structure.