A shopping cart basket comprises one or more modular baskets couplable to a bottom basket having a plurality of wheels extending downwardly to allow the shopping cart basket to roll. Each of the modular baskets has a foldable bottom wall that can act as a bottom of a separate basket or can be folded against a side wall of the modular basket. The modular baskets could be used to hold items within a smaller compartment, and can be combined with the bottom basket to form a roll-able shopping cart having a larger compartment. Such a cart is advantageously used in a store, such as a grocery store, a retail shopping mall, or a home improvement store.

This disclosure is directed to item-identifying carts that may generate and store image data of items being placed into, or removed from, the carts in the event that a cart is unable to recognize an item. For example, the cart may analyze frames of generated image data, representing item(s) being placed into or removed from the cart, to determine which one or more frames to store. If the cart is later unable to identify such an item, the cart may retrieve one or more of the stored frames, generate a user interface (UI) that includes these frame(s) and a request that a user operating the cart to help identify the item, and present the UI on a display of the cart.

A mobile registration terminal for a customer in a store includes a network interface, a display, a scanner, and a processor configured to: when a commodity sold at the store is scanned through the scanner, determine whether the commodity is an age-restricted commodity, upon determining that the commodity is not an age-restricted commodity, register the commodity, and upon determining that the commodity is an age-restricted commodity, control the display to display a screen indicating that an age of the customer needs to be verified by a clerk of the store, and after clerk information about the clerk is input through the scanner, control the network interface to transmit to an external device the clerk information for checkout of the commodity without further verification of the age of the customer.

This disclosure is directed to an item-identifying, mobile cart that may be utilized by a user in a materials handling facility to automatically identify a user operating the cart and items that the user places into a basket of the cart. In addition, the cart may update a virtual shopping cart of the identified user to include items taken by the user. The mobile cart may include multiple imaging devices and oriented such that their respective optical axes are directed towards an interior of a perimeter of the top of the basket, and above the top of the basket. The mobile cart may also include an imaging device oriented away from the basket such that a user operating the mobile cart may scan a user identifier using this imaging device to enable recognition of the user.

A shopping cart and method of autonomous shopping are provided including a cart chassis, a scale configured to rest on base of the chassis, a basket resting on the scale, wherein weights of products placed in the basket are indicated by the output signal of the scale, a weight guard rail positioned above the product basket and attached to the cart chassis, a user identification unit, a payment module, and a motion sensor.

A mobile registration terminal operable by a customer in a store includes a memory, a display, a scanner through which a commodity sold at the store or a medium storing clerk information about a clerk of the store is scanned, and a processor. The processor is configured to, when a commodity is scanned through the scanner, determine whether the commodity is an age-restricted commodity, upon determining that the commodity is not an age-restricted commodity, register the commodity, and upon determining that the commodity is an age-restricted commodity, control the display to display a screen through which an age of the customer is verified by a clerk of the store, and upon receipt of an input of clerk information about a clerk through the scanner, store the clerk information in the memory for checkout of the commodity without further verification of the age of the customer.

A system for monitoring and controlling shopping cart usage comprises a wheel assembly that attaches to a shopping cart. In some embodiments 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.

An information processing apparatus for commodity registration includes a cart body, a weight sensor, a movement sensor, a code scanner, a display, and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to detect change of a weight according to the weight sensor. Upon detecting the weight change, the control circuit determines whether the code scanner has read a commodity code within a predetermined time period before or after the weight change. If the code scanner has not read a commodity code within the predetermined time period, it is determined whether or not movement of the cart body, as detected by the movement sensor, satisfies a predetermined condition. If the movement satisfies the predetermined condition, the control circuit controls the display to display a registration alert screen.

A system for monitoring and controlling shopping cart usage comprises a wheel assembly that attaches to a shopping cart. In some embodiments 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.

A motorized cart retriever, which may be a cart pusher or a cart puller, can apply a force to a nest of human-propelled, wheeled carts to facilitate retrieval of the carts. The cart retriever can include a transceiver configured to wirelessly receive cart status information from cart transmitters of the wheeled carts and wirelessly report event data to a control unit. The cart status information may include an identification of the cart transmitter, a location of the cart, a lock or unlock status of a cart wheel, a misuse condition, etc. The event data can include the cart status information, a number of wheeled carts being retrieved, etc. The cart wheel may include a brake. The transceiver may communicate a message to the cart wheel to keep the brake unactuated during retrieval. The control unit may analyze the event data to detect traffic patterns of the carts.