TWB #4 | The Wheel Locking Shopping Cart Wheel Teardown

[@mtl111mtl]

8:00 the device does not receive a radio signal, it only needs a magnetic field to activate / deactivate the motor to lock the wheel. The cart wheel is activated when it crosses a wire buried around the parking lot.

[@cocoa3393]

How do u unlock once out of lot

[@mikes9939]

Thanks for this great video, you just solved a mystery that happened to me today at my local Kroger store. I was leaving the store and the thing tripped on me just as I was going out the first door. Could not understand why the wheel would not turn anymore and noticed that one rear wheel looked different. I just transferred my groceries into another cart and went to my car vowing to look this up when I got home. I think the store has the wire under the metal threshold but that would not really make sense so now that I know about this device I am going to ask a store manager about these things. Just goes to show you that you really do learn something every day.

[@CarlWong5]

A signal is sent to the wheel instructing it to lock when it passes that threshold or leaves the parking lot.

[@timb7711]

My Kroger (Fry’s) just added this at the door to prevent grocery theft. There’s a person near the door that activates the system if they suspect you of stealing. Otherwise it has no effect. I haven’t seen it triggered yet.

[@pickelsvx]

@@timb7711 Jokes on them, if they try that stunt I'll just pick the whole cart up and walk out.

[@roncooper8666]

Cool breakdown, brother! Sorry for commenting on a video that's 4 years old but I just found it. The information is still relevant so what the hey, yo! Thanks for taking the time to show us how they've re-invented the wheel.

[@kantrys]

Hey man, thanks for your time! Excellent video.

[@carlossalazar5311]

I've been looking for a video that explains this! Thank you so much

[@acadman4322]

Great! Now I know how these things work. I never knew that and it really has been something of a mystery for me. so, thanks- I like!

[@Simon_Rafferty]

U1 is most likely an accelerometer to detect movement - used to power down the microcontroller when it's stationary.

[@ldelfin2]

I did it and worked perfect!!! Thanx the explanation. Now I’m using my cart as a planter.

[@MagnetOnlyMotors]

Nice simple but efficient mechanism.

[@jackiearevalo8018]

What they don't tell you is once they stop working they cost a fortune for the company to come out and fix them. i put in a work order for 18 carts and they want to charge over$1000 to fix them

[@Unknown_Ooh]

How do they recharge these carts? Or once the battery dies you have to replace the entire wheel? Doesn't sound environmentally friendly

[@luigikoopa8771]

Most modern ones charge as they are pushed

[@coondogtheman]

Thanks for sharing this with us. I've always wondered what was inside these things. I don't have these devices at any store I've been to but hope to find one like you did.

[@micahnightwolf]

Looks like a Gatekeeper Systems CartControl lock. Shame they don't put a generator and rechargeable battery inside it. The thing is so damn hard to push sometimes that most customers wouldn't notice the added resistance of a dynamo anyway.

[@recklessrickey9513]

Smart

[@joannamonroe6208]

thou shalt Not plunder?

[@joannamonroe6208]

Micah Nightwolf digging some of your new living plans. diy tools?

[@ExtantFrodo2]

Seems a obvious upgrade. But if you don't have built in obsolescence how can you keep your cart manufacturing business going?

[@jor7137]

@@ExtantFrodo2 What´s the difference between replacing a rechargeable battery every 10 years versus a non rechargeable every 10 years? You´d just add the complexity of the generator.

[@michaelmorrissey1052]

Thanks, I always wondered how they worked, now I know!

[@TechsScience]

Do they have to keep charging that battery?

[@coondogtheman]

you should try to get that battery out and put 3VDC to the terminals and see if this thing powers up. Is the silicone hard to remove?

[@ThatElectronicsFool]

coondogtheman1234 The silicone is really soft and easy to remove. I'm pretty sure the battery probably still has a charge, but unfortunately without knowing what kind of data they're sending to the unit I have no way to make it lock/unlock.

[@coondogtheman]

The Workbench Maybe take a radio scanner to the nearest store where you found that wheel and see if you can hear anything coming from the yellow line..

[@geoffhoweth]

The Workbench The signal is a 7800 Hz Link to great info really simple to do www.instructables.com/id/Shopping-Cart-Locker-THE-EASY-WAY-Improved-Range/

[@robertknight4672]

I remember a different version of a walking wheel kind of resemble the plastic fender. That one would deploy a piece of plastic underneath the wheel basically extending the fender a little bit the plastic would ride on the ground.

[@AM-nm1oe]

I have a bunch of carts I bought at an auction What's the easiest way to permanently disable this? Should I cut the battery cables, buy a magnet etc?

[@deadbeathusband471]

The manual says the frequency used by the transmitter is "below 9kHz".

[@chozentipene1822]

Like a drum brake essentially

[@wishbone1282]

Do not drill a small hole on the side of the cover and spray some carb. cleaner in it. This may destroy the unit, so never do this!

[@sastha9310]

Wheel - The birth of civilization

[@SeattleRingHunter]

Come on tell us what locking signal they are sending out of the parking lot loop so we can make a handheld transmitter... 👺

[@cl11111]

8kHz, High Frequency - Operates in the 2.4GHz band.

[@SeattleRingHunter]

@@cl11111 now for the unlocking frequency…

[@chwcds]

Where can I buy this wheel?

[@goodcall5606]

If this lock on the cart is only to not leave the parking lot with it .then why did it lock up just when I was leaving the store.after paying for my grocery at food 4 less. The security gaurd came to unlock the wheel for me. I was no where near the outside parameters.

[@victorjohnson4971]

It locks up for thief or leaving the parking lot but sometimes it malfunctions

[@eriks9417]

Mine locked exiting the store even though i paid. Total disaster, kroger!

[@techtinkerin]

I wonder if you could damage it with an emp jammer? 😄

[@chessdominos]

Thank you! My girlfriend love it! She is into science and technology.

[@SeattleRingHunter]

At least in the US we don’t have to put a coin in to the slot to unlock a grocery cart from the cart pen.

[@Bl4ckD0g]

Nope, we have those. 99 cent stores use them

[@susanthorne8555]

Isn't it supposed to stop someone from wheeling out a cart of groceries without paying?

[@bobb7460]

Susan Thorne no it’s For keeping people from stealing the carts

[@avflyguy]

How to they know if you did or didn't pay for an item? I've had two go off on me at the threshold of the doors at Kroger. Home Depot also uses these things. Again at the threshold of the door - just look down and can clearly see where the concrete has been cut to install the trip wire.

[@victorjohnson4971]

Happened to me today had to search KZbin to find out how it worked

[@gam3kid]

Sure he "found it on the side of the road" lol

[@mariosanchez-sj9yv]

Who makes this wheels

[@FrankBenlin]

They had one lock up going out the front door and they unlocked it with a magnet.

[@cocoa3393]

How? I just picked up a cart and need 2 unlock the wheel

[@_Junkers]

I wonder what frequency is used to trigger it

[@joannamonroe6208]

Junkers sounds of men cursing their govenments

[@jameswyatt1304]

There's more on the internal signals on the EEVBlog - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4KulKOohqljsMU

[@eriks9417]

Magnet

[@cl11111]

8kHz, High Frequency - Operates in the 2.4GHz band.

[@hmiller5698]

hi do you know where can I get those wheels

[@joannamonroe6208]

H Miller from a cart?

[@Unknown_Ooh]

Not sure why I'm so interested in this thing but I am. I guess if some homeless can find the correct screw head they can really stick it to the man by just loosening the gears inside the wheel. I'm guessing these devices aren't cheap when stores could have hundreds or more of carts they have to install this onto them plus paying to run wires throughout the parking lot.

[@electricheartpony]

A cart was apparently only 100 bucks 6 years ago. So, possibly 150 now. I guess overtime they do make up for the cost.

[@Jay_Dahl]

That wheel lock, battery maintenance, and the work required to install the trip wire under the asphalt must cost as much as the basic carts cost. You would REALLY have to have a lot of shopping cart thefts to justify an expensive system like this. Is shopping cart theft THAT bad???? Labor shortages in the US are so high right now that it's hard just to find enough store employees to return the carts to the store, much less keep a sophisticated anti-theft system like this in place. A spectrum analyzer could easily figure out what frequency that "guard wire" under the pavement is operating on. A disgruntled employee could really create havoc inside a store, walking around with a transmitter hidden in his pocket, stopping all the in-store customers from doing any more shopping. And the store manager wouldn't have a clue as to what was going on. I wonder how deep under the asphalt the transmission wire is? If it's just an inch or two under the asphalt, an angry customer with a simple chisel and hammer could probably break the wire in a few seconds and disable the whole system. And good luck to the repair guy trying to figure out where exactly out in the parking lot that the wire was cut. Aldi has an interesting idea to reduce shopping cart losses. A cheap mechanism in the cart handle makes you deposit 25 cents to unlock and borrow your cart. Then you get your quarter back when you return the cart. That saves all the labor associated with having employees collect shopping carts from the parking lot, but it obviously wouldn't do anything to stop outright shopping cart theft. The whole customer service experience is going downhill. Now they have self checkouts, and some stores no longer supply free plastic shopping bags. Sad.

[@TheDarknessConsumesMe666]

He stole that wheel o_O

[@musictherapy7105]

And I guess when battery it's empty block system will not work, isn't it?'

[@ThatElectronicsFool]

Pretty sure these were not meant to be serviceable, so they would probably just replace the whole wheel when the battery went dead. Since the motor wouldn't be constantly running, the lithium battery should have lasted for a very long time.

[@acadman4322]

@@ThatElectronicsFool They do replace them on a regular basis with routine servicing. They can test the battery with an instrument. Also, to release the brake if it is activated, they have a handheld device, which is the reason for the two H bridges = forward and reverse. to retrieve a locked cart, the employee simply walks out to the locked wheel cart with the handheld, places it near the wheel and presses a button for three seconds- presto - wheel unlocks.

[@SeattleRingHunter]

Sure as shit it’s confirmed: Power Source - Proprietary Gatekeeper Systems' Battery. Signal Output - Low Frequency - 8kHz, High Frequency - Operates in the 2.4GHz band. Microprocessor - Digital Circuitry, Factory-Programmed and Compliant with International Regulations.

[@chuckbear1961]

Pretty sophicitated for a wheel

[@hmiller5698]

or which company sell them thank you

[@ThatElectronicsFool]

Gatekeeper Systems (www.gatekeepersystems.com/) apparently still makes these types of wheels. I think you'd have to contact them about it.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

This is very interesting 🤨. I found about 10 shopping 🛒 carts out in the desert last year. They look like 👍 they are the store’s throwaways. I haven’t visited the location since, but I’ve been wanting to tear down the wheels on each of them. I want to get at the motors, and save all the gearing systems, to cram them in my parts bin, for spare parts. Since my high school 🏫 years, I’ve always wanted to build a robot 🤖 with gears ⚙️, and motors, or a remote control car 🚗, but I’m not sure 🤔 how I’ll go about. I just may save the motors for the armatures, and magnets 🧲 to use in other stuff. Your friend, Jeff.

[@juliogonzalez-bv8fr]

how i can make a remote for unlock

[@SoundOfYourDestiny]

Why?

[@eriks9417]

All plastic. Grocery prices going up to install and repair these things.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

P.S., that looks like a 22.5 volt battery 🪫 (or something close), that is found in some stores 🏬. They could be user serviceable (by the shopper, or anybody), but this is highly not suggested. This is to be done by the store 🏬, or the shopping 🛒 cart service repair 👩‍🔧 people only. Like 👍 we don’t pirate 🏴‍☠️ music 🎶, or CD’s, we don’t work on shopping cart wheel locks 🔒. I’m going to check out those shopping carts on my next days off, if they’re still there, and let ya know about the results then (if they’re still there). Your friend, Jeff.

[@ronwillcox8735]

so would a big magnet overcome the lock?

[@pierreuntel1970]

No, lol

[@joannamonroe6208]

sucky people have to lock down some carts. consider it community service to grant a man a cart.

[@SoundOfYourDestiny]

Or consider it protection against thieving assholes.