Smart on-demand storage for robots

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations comprising:

• determining, by the processing system, a location at which additional wireless network capacity is required;
• obtaining, by the processing system, a request message associated with a first physical robot, the request message comprising a request that the first physical robot be stored;
• selecting, by the processing system, a second physical robot based at least in part upon the second physical robot being capable of storing the first physical robot and further being capable of providing the additional wireless network capacity;
• directing, by the processing system, the second physical robot to move to the location;
• causing, by the processing system, software to be enabled or executed in the second physical robot to cause wireless communication hardware of the second physical robot to provide the additional wireless network capacity at the location;
• and
• directing, by the processing system, the first physical robot to the second physical robot at the location such that the first physical robot is within a storage portion of the second physical robot.

A first physical robot comprising:

• a housing defining a storage portion configured to contain a second physical robot;
• wireless communication hardware;
• a processing system including a processor;
• and
• a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the first physical robot to perform operations comprising:
• receiving a storage request to store a second physical robot, wherein the storage request is received from the second physical robot or from a controller external to the second physical robot;
• receiving an instruction to move to a location at which additional wireless network capacity is required for users of a wireless network;
• moving to the location;
• executing software that causes the wireless communication hardware to provide the additional wireless network capacity at the location for the users of the wireless network;
• and
• storing the second physical robot within the storage portion.