Patent attributes
A disclosed system for transporting items to destination locations, for example when receiving inventory at large retail locations, includes an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) having at least one shelf; a shelf elevator operable to raise and lower the at least one shelf; a drive unit operable to move the AGV between a docking location and a destination location; the AGV able to position the at least one shelf at a different heights for loading and offloading items first height and a second height different from the first height, autonomously navigate between the docking location and the first destination location, and bid on delivery tasks. Some examples are further able to use a cartridge unit to expand cargo capacity. An AGV could analyze the currently-loaded weight and the remaining available space, and dynamically adjust the heights of the shelves according to the dimensions of the assigned items.