Reminds me of a Tom Scott video where he checks out the Ocado warehouse in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssZ_8cqfBlE
It's crazy; they've rethought the entire system to have it navigable by machine.
Based on the timeline of events, they basically copied AutoStore. I'm actually curious what the next lawsuits will bring, but i don't think it's going to be in favor for Ocado.
There was already a preliminary result and while Ocado says it's a win, i think that's a deceiving statement if you actually care to read it.
> The Norwegian company claimed in U.S. filings that Ocado infringed four patents for the robotic systems. The judge found that, while Ocado used technology covered by three of the patents, those claims failed to fulfill requirements of clearly describing the invention in a way that others can understand.
We'll see how it goes.
This temporarily one for an injunction did conclude that Ocado is using 3/4 patents. But the injuction was not granted.
Note: not an expert, but I'll probably ask one in patent law for more information to one to check if I'm correct. Because I have some stocks in AutoStore and that included rudimentary analysis of AutoStore vs. Ocado lawsuits without going deep into the actual patents.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-58190969
Also... As as exercise for the reader, compare the Ocado top-down picker with the Kiva (now Amazon) bottom-up shelf lifter, and then guess which system has a better value-for-money and is faster to deploy.
From Article linked by parent:
> A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority report found there was an hour's delay in dialling 999 and staff had turned off the sprinkler system.
Whereas Tom Scott was at this location: https://goo.gl/maps/H54SKTkumd4dEyam6 (the same outside view of the location is at 0:03 in the video linked above).
There's a lot of waste there: it would be more efficient to just feed people from centralized canteens located near living and work spaces. The problem is that you have sales taxes and tips to add to those kind of meals, plus the wastage of inconsistent demand for the restaurant generally and for individual menu items.