A transparent product can reliably transmit management information, and even under a harsh environment, the indicated management information will not be peeled off. The transparent product includes management information for managing the product. The management information is provided inside the product so that the management information can be visually recognized through at least one surface of the product in the thickness direction.

Some embodiments provide apparatuses and methods useful to providing control over movement of motorized transport units. In some embodiments, an apparatus providing control over movement of motorized transport units at a shopping facility comprises: a central computer system comprising: a transceiver; a control circuit; a memory coupled to the control circuit and storing computer instructions that when executed by the control circuit cause the control circuit to perform the steps of: obtain, from one or more of the communications received from the motorized transport unit, route condition information comprising information corresponding to an intended route of travel; obtain additional route condition information detected by one or more detectors external to the motorized transport unit; detect an object affecting the intended route of travel; identify an action to be taken by the motorized transport unit with respect to the detected object; and communicate one or more instructions.

A method for performing tasks on items located in a space using a robot, includes receiving an order to perform a task on at least one item and obtaining a pose associated with the at least one item. The pose is in a coordinate system defined by the space and the pose is where the task is to be performed on the at least one item. The method includes navigating the robot toward the pose associated with the at least one item and detecting, when in proximity to the pose, if the pose is obstructed by an object. If the pose is obstructed by an object, halting the robot at a location spaced from the pose and then causing the robot to provide a first signal indicating that the robot is in a holding mode at the location spaced from the pose.

A vehicle body tracking system of a vehicle assembly line determines, in real time, a position of a vehicle body transferred to process sections divided by a predetermined pitch. The tracking system includes: a vehicle body detecting unit installed at a starting point of the assembly line so as to detect the vehicle body; an encoder unit provided at a conveyor unit, which travels along the assembly line and transfers the vehicle body, so as to detect a rotation amount of a rotating body rotated by a traveling body of the conveyor unit; and a controller to receive a detection signal from the vehicle body detecting unit to acquire identification information of the vehicle body and to calculate a moving distance of the vehicle body for each process section by receiving the detection value from the encoder unit.

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.

An air purifier filter system comprises an air purifier filter unit and a machine readable identifier which provides information concerning the filter unit type and performance information specific to a target pollutant to be filtered by said air purifier filter unit from a plurality of different pollutants that can be filtered by that filter unit type. This information can be used to provide an end of life prediction for the filter unit or provide advice that the filter should be changed for other reasons. This enables the user to be given advance warning, and to be given instructions when it is time to change the filter unit. The instructions to change the filter unit may be more accurate than a simple timer as they can take account of the type of filter unit and the performance information. In some examples the use history of the filter unit may also be used to predict the time when it should be changed.

A cabinet that can control the distribution of products that can optionally include medications. The cabinet can have a user interface that receives information about a user and the user's identity can then be authenticated. The cabinet can accept a user's request to dispense a product and, if the user is approved, the cabinet can dispense a quantity of product to the approved user.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for sorting items discarded in a shopping facility. A system for sorting discarded items comprises a motorized transport unit configured to travel around discarded items placed in a sorting area in the shopping facility, the motorized transport unit comprises a sensor device and an item mover device, an item characterization database storing characteristics corresponding to a plurality of items likely to be found in the shopping facility, and a central computer system. The central computer system is configured to receive data from the sensor device on the motorized transport unit, determine an item characteristic of an item among the discarded items in the sorting area, determine a sorting category of the item from a plurality of predefined categories, and cause the motorized transport unit to move the item, with the item mover device, from the sorting area into a category area.

Described in detail herein is an autonomous fulfillment system. The system includes the first computing system with an interactive display. The first computing system can transmit a request for physical objects from a facility. A second computing system can transmit instructions to autonomous robot devices to retrieve the physical objects from the facility. The second computing system can control the image capturing device of an autonomous robot device to capture a live image feed of at least one physical object picked up by the autonomous robot device. The second computing system can switch an input feed of the first computing system to display the live image feed on the interactive display of the first computing system. The second computing system can instruct the autonomous robot device to discard the physical objects picked up by the autonomous robot device and to pick up a replacement physical object.

Some embodiments provide methods and systems of monitoring trash cans. A central computer system of a shopping facility identifies a first motorized transport unit and a second motorized transport unit; communicates routing instructions based on a mapping of the shopping facility to each of the first and second motorized transport units directing the first and second motorized transport units to a trash can receptacle, wherein the second motorized transport unit transports a replacement second trash can; communicates trash can removal instruction to the first motorized transport unit to cause the first motorized transport unit to remove the first trash can from the trash can receptacle; and communicates a trash can replacement instruction to the second motorized transport unit to cause the second motorized transport unit to place the second trash can into the trash can receptacle in place of the first trash can.