Configurable item display dolly

A portable item display device, the portable item display device comprising:

• a base member comprising a set of wheels and a braking mechanism coupled to the set of wheels;
• a back member connected to at least a portion of the base member, the back member comprising a plurality of attachment slots adapted to removably attach at least one support arm;
• a plurality of support arms removably attached to the back member, each support arm removably attached to an attachment slot in the plurality of attachment slots, the plurality of support arms configured to support a plurality of item display trays in a vertical stacked configuration, each support arm in the plurality of support arms configured to support at least a portion of an item display tray in a horizontal orientation;
• a lifting mechanism associated with the plurality of attachment slots that moves the plurality of support arms vertically along the back member from a closed configuration to an open configuration in accordance with a predetermined separation distance associated with each tray level in a plurality of tray levels on condition the braking mechanism is activated, the lifting mechanism moving a first pair of support arms from the closed configuration to the open configuration changing a separation distance between the first pair of support arms and a second pair of support arms to enable removal of items from at least one tray in the plurality of item display trays;
• and
• the lifting mechanism moves the plurality of support arms vertically along the back member from the open configuration to the closed configuration, prevent movement of the plurality of item display trays on condition the braking mechanism is released.

A computer-implemented method for managing self-propelled item display devices, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• obtaining, via a communications interface component, data from a set of sensor devices associated with a plurality of support arms via a network, the sensor data including weight data associated with each item display tray in a plurality of item display trays supported on the plurality of support arms;
• disengaging, by a controller component, a propulsion mechanism on condition the weight data indicates an amount of weight on the plurality of support arms exceeds an acceptable weight threshold range based on analysis of the sensor data;
• moving, via a navigation component, an item display dolly from a temperature-controlled storage location to an assigned display location via the propulsion mechanism on condition the weight data indicates the amount of weight on the plurality of support arms is within the acceptable weight threshold range;
• and
• adjusting, by a lifting mechanism, each pair of support arms in the plurality of support arms vertically along a back member from a closed configuration to an open configuration associated with a display mode on condition the item display dolly is present within the assigned display location, the open configuration comprising a first set of support arms separated from a second set of support arms by a first separation distance and the second set of support arms separated from a third set of support arms by a second separation distance, the second separation distance is a greater distance than the first separation distance, the open configuration enabling removal of a set of items from at least one item display tray supported on at least one pair of support arms in the plurality of support arms.