According to one embodiment, a moving body includes an electrical component, a base frame that includes caster portions provided to be runnable on a floor surface, and is formed such that a front side is narrower than a rear side along a front-rear direction, the rear side is opened, and thus another moving body is insertable from the rear side, and a battery case that accommodates a battery supplying power to the electrical component and has an opening and closing lid opening rearward. A restricting member is provided inside the base frame and restricts a position of the other moving body inserted from the rear side to a position where the opening and closing lid opens at least to an angle at which the battery in the battery case is replaceable.

A wireless power supply system includes a power receiving device disposed on a bottom surface of a cart, a guide rail extending along a first direction for guiding wheels of carts, and a plurality of power transmission devices configured to wirelessly transmit power to the power receiving device. The power transmission devices are arranged along the guide rail at predetermined intervals. The guide rail has a plurality of recesses arranged at the predetermined intervals such that one of the power transmission devices faces the power receiving device when a wheel of the cart fits into one of the recesses.

Techniques for predictive system remediation are disclosed. Based on attributes associated with applications of one or more system-selected remedial actions to one or more problematic system behaviors in a system (e.g., a database system), the system determines a predicted effectiveness of one or more future applications of a remedial action to a particular problematic system behavior, as of one or more future times. The system determines that the predicted effectiveness of the one or more future applications of the remedial action is positive but does not satisfy a performance criterion. Responsive to determining that the predicted effectiveness is positive but does not satisfy the performance criterion, the system generates a notification corresponding to the predicted effectiveness not satisfying the performance criterion. The system applies the remedial action to the particular problematic system behavior, despite already determining that the predicted effectiveness does not satisfy the one or more performance criteria.

A stackable control device is equipped with a plurality of casters provided on a side of a bottom surface, and a support member provided on an upper surface and configured to support a control device that is stacked on a side of the upper surface. Two from among the plurality of casters sandwich the support member of a control device that is stacked on the side of the bottom surface.

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.

A cart apparatus includes a child cart that includes a base frame structure including a pair of side beams and a lateral beam that extends between the pair of side beams. A parent cart includes a base frame structure including a pair of side beams and a lateral beam that extends between the pair of side beams. The base frame structure of the parent cart defines a nesting area that is sized and arranged to receive the base frame structure of the child cart. A cart interlock mechanism includes an engagement member that is rotatably mounted to the base frame structure and a foot pedal that is linked to the engagement member. The foot pedal rotates the engagement member from a locked position that engages the base frame of the child cart to an unlocked position that releases the base frame of the child cart.

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.

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.

A device for dispensing and locking carts disposed in a stack, comprising: a dual-lever mechanism, comprising: a locking lever which is blocking movement of a first cart of a plurality of carts disposed in a stack when in open position; a base adjacent to said locking lever which is movable forward and backward with respect to the stack; and a dispensing lever mounted on the base which is blocking movement of a second cart of the plurality of carts when in open position; and a drive belt driving the plurality of carts in parallel to movement of said base by moving forward and backward in coordination with the base.

A system for monitoring and controlling shopping cart usage comprises a wheel assembly that attaches to a shopping cart. The wheel assembly includes a wheel, a brake that can be activated to inhibit rotation of the wheel, a controller that controls the brake, a VLF receiver, and an RF transceiver. The RF transceiver may, for example, operate in a 2.4 GHz frequency band. In some implementations, the RF transceiver may be used to detect entry of the shopping cart into a checkout area of the store, and the VLF receiver may be used to detect that the shopping cart is exiting the store. The controller may activate the brake if the shopping cart attempts to exit the store without first passing through a checkout area.