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.

An active marker device, and method of design thereof, for use in a motion tracking system are provided. In one arrangement, the device comprises a mounting body comprising a mounting surface. A plurality of light emitting units are mounted on respective mounting portions of the mounting surface. A control system controls the plurality of light emitting units such that light is emitted simultaneously from a selected subset of light emitting units. A plurality of optical elements are mounted on the mounting surface. Each optical element covers a different one of the light emitting units and is configured so that an inner surface of the optical element is separated from an outer surface of the light emitting unit. Each optical element redirects a portion of light emitted by the light emitting unit covered by the optical element to be more parallel to the mounting portion of the light emitting unit.

A system for a remotely controlled device to determine its location and orientation is disclosed. The system includes a remotely controlled device, at least one sensor connected to the remotely controlled device, the at least one sensor comprising a processor, and at least one emitter, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to receive the signal from the at least one emitter and the processor is configured to determine the location and orientation of the remotely controlled device.

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.

Embodiments described herein relate to a magnetic positioning system and method that allows the position of a receiver to be determined in environments containing conducting material such as concrete. A number of transmitters create modulated magnetic fields which are distorted as they propagate through the conducting materials. A finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation of the environment is used to generate an accurate model of the fields within the environment. A receiver is used to measure the field strength of each transmitter. The receiver position is determined by evaluating the misfit between the received fields and the values in the FDTD model.

The invention provides a navigation device comprising a docking portion configured to securely adhere to a surface and a unit having at least one of a visual, an audio or tactile indicator. The present invention provides a device which the user attaches to a wall or door or ground surface entered on the way into a building. A number of fixed devices then assist the user to retrace their route out of the building. In addition, the device can be configured to transmit essential information to a user located outside the building. The devices can also be configured to form a novel navigation communication system.

Provided are embodiments of a position-adaptive lighting system comprising a pantilt adjustable housing enclosing a digital imaging system and a lens module operably connected to a computer-based digital control unit, a lamp, and a position indicator detectable by the digital camera system and the computer-based digital control unit. The position-adaptive lighting system can adjustably direct a light beam to provide illumination of an object to which the position indicator is attached. The system is advantageous for providing a directed light to a surgical site and accommodate the movement of the position indicator on a surgeons hand or instrument.

Some embodiments include apparatuses providing control over movement of motorized transport units at a retail facility, comprising: multiple self-propelled motorized transport units; a wireless communication network; and a central computer system, wherein the central computer system comprises: a transceiver; a control circuit; and a memory storing computer instructions that when executed cause the control circuit to: receive an override command, from a worker associated with the retail facility, to cause a first motorized transport unit of the multiple motorized transport units to implement one or more actions; confirm a valid authorization of the worker to override one or more operating limits of the first motorized transport unit; and override the one or more operating limits and communicate one or more instructions to the first motorized transport unit configured to cause the first motorized transport unit to implement the one or more actions in accordance with the override command.

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.

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.