Systems and methods for a mobile carousel with power and communications contacts

A material sorting system, comprising:

• a base including:
• a pair of fork pockets adapted to receive a pair of forks from a material handling vehicle;
• a top wall;
• a bottom wall spaced apart from the top wall;
• and
• a center wall arranged between the top wall and the bottom wall and dividing the pair of fork pockets;
• a carousel assembly coupled to the base and including a plurality of storage units;
• and
• at least one electrical contact within the base and in electrical communication with the carousel assembly, the at least one electrical contact being adapted to transfer power or a communication signal between the material handling vehicle and the carousel assembly.

A material sorting system, comprising:

• a carousel assembly including:
• a plurality of storage units;
• and
• an actuation mechanism configured to move the plurality of storage units relative to a base;
• and
• an electrical contact in electrical communication with the actuation mechanism, the electrical contact being adapted to engage with a corresponding electrical contact on a material handling vehicle to transfer power or a communication signal between the material handling vehicle and the carousel assembly;
• wherein the base defines a first fork pocket and a second fork pocket adapted to receive a pair of forks from the material handling vehicle;
• and
• wherein the electrical contact is arranged within at least one of the first and second fork pockets.