Various embodiments herein relate to powered pusher devices configured to push wheeled objects from one location to another. Further embodiments relate to wheeled objects such as carts for transporting items from one location to another. Other embodiments relate to platform powered pushers that can be coupled to a family of various wheeled objects.

In accordance with an embodiment, a power transmission device comprises a power transmission antenna arranged on a side of a cart stored at a storage position to face a power reception antenna arranged in a side surface of the cart so as to transmit electric power towards the side surface of the cart stored at the storage position; and a power transmission circuit configured to transmit the electric power to be received by the power reception antenna arranged in the side surface of the cart from the power transmission antenna.

According to an embodiment, a power transmission system includes a power transmission antenna, a first rail and a second rail. The power transmission antenna is disposed facing the power reception antenna installed on the side surface of the cart stored in the storage position. The first rail includes a first groove that guides, among a plurality of wheels for moving the cart to the storage position, a first wheel that is closest to the power transmission antenna while the cart is stored in the storage position, and that causes a distance between the power reception antenna and the power transmission antenna installed on the side surface of the cart to be within a power transmittable range. The second rail includes a second groove that guides, among the plurality of wheels for moving the cart, a second wheel that is different from the first wheel to the storage position.

According to one embodiment, a guide device includes a groove configured to limit a direction in which a wheel provided in a cart moves to a predetermined moving direction such that the cart is guided to the storage position. The groove has a groove width such that a slope of the direction of the wheel in the groove with respect to the moving direction is less than a predetermined value.

A shopping cart basket having a handle region located at the front or the sides of the shopping cart basket is disclosed. The forward handle region may have a plurality of openings along the front, corners, and sides to allow a customer to easily grip the shopping cart basket and guide the shopping cart. The shopping cart basket may be formed from a metallic wire portion and a non-metallic forward handle region, or in some embodiments, the shopping cart basket may be formed from a fully formed from a polymer material.

A mobile accessory storage, maintenance and tracking system and methods of using same.

Examples of systems and methods for locating movable objects such as carts (e.g., shopping carts) are disclosed. Such systems and methods can use dead reckoning techniques to estimate the current position of the movable object. Various techniques for improving accuracy of position estimates are disclosed, including compensation for various error sources involving the use of magnetometer and accelerometer, and using vibration analysis to derive wheel rotation rates. Also disclosed are various techniques to utilize characteristics of the operating environment in conjunction with or in lieu of dead reckoning techniques, including characteristic of environment such as ground texture, availability of signals from radio frequency (RF) transmitters including precision fix sources. Such systems and methods can be applied in both indoor and outdoor settings and in retail or warehouse settings.

Examples of systems and methods for locating movable objects such as carts (e.g., shopping carts) are disclosed. Such systems and methods can use dead reckoning techniques to estimate the current position of the movable object. Various techniques for improving accuracy of position estimates are disclosed, including compensation for various error sources involving the use of magnetometer and accelerometer, and using vibration analysis to derive wheel rotation rates. Various techniques utilize characteristics of the operating environment in conjunction with or in lieu of dead reckoning techniques, including characteristic of environment such as ground texture, availability of signals from radio frequency (RF) transmitters including precision fix sources. Navigation techniques can include navigation history and backtracking, motion direction detection for dual swivel casters, use of gyroscopes, determining cart weight, multi-level navigation, multi-level magnetic measurements, use of lighting signatures, use of multiple navigation systems, or hard/soft iron compensation for different cart configurations.

Methods and systems are provided for evaluating shopping cart wheels using a sensor module or one or more microphones engaged with the shopping cart. The microphones can be used to detect sounds generated by the wheels of the shopping cart. A sound signature can be determined from the detected sound and compared to sound signatures in a database. If the detected sound indicates that a wheel of the shopping cart is failing, an alert can be generated using an associate alert system.

A wheeled, pushable cart for transporting cargo that when not in use can be stacked or nested in telescoping fashion, and which can be used with carts having a base frame to which the wheels are attached, and various components, which can include one or more baskets, that are attached to the base frame. The manner in which the wheels are attached and arranged, and the orientation of the base frame, provide for increased storage and ease of access to the base frame and bottom shelf from the rear of the cart, and easy nesting (also referred to as stacking) of multiple carts in telescoping fashion when the carts are not in use.