Patent ID: 8433507
Filing Date: 2013-04-30
Classification: A47F,B60K,B60T,B62B,G01C,G06K,G06Q,G08B,G08G,H02K,H04W,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of monitoring shopping cart usage, comprising: generating shopping cart event data via two-way radio frequency (RF) communications with each of a plurality of shopping carts associated with a store, said event data including information reflective of zone entry events detected by particular shopping carts, each zone entry event representing entry of a particular shopping cart into a particular zone of a plurality of zones associated with said store, said zone entry events detected by the corresponding shopping carts based on transmissions received by the shopping carts from corresponding antennas mounted in a monitoring area associated with the store, said shopping cart event data additionally including battery level data reported by said shopping carts, said battery level data reflective of battery levels of batteries included in wheel assemblies of said shopping carts; aggregating the shopping cart event data associated with the plurality of shopping carts in a data repository; and programmatically analyzing the aggregated shopping cart event data to generate statistical information regarding said shopping carts; wherein the method comprises, via circuitry included in the wheel assemblies of the shopping carts, generating received signal strength measurements based on said transmissions, and using the received signal strength measurements to detect said zone entry events.