System for an automated dispensing and retrieval kiosk for recorded media

A kiosk for automatically dispensing and receiving recorded media, the kiosk comprising:

• a plurality of circular, stacked shelves, each shelf configured to store a plurality of recorded media;
• a customer interface configured to interact with a customer to allow selection, delivery and return of one or more of the recorded media;
• a media input;
• a media output;
• a robotic element configured to (a) deliver selected recorded media from the stacked shelves to the media output and (b) deliver returned recorded media from the media input to the stacked shelves, wherein the robotic element includes a gripping assembly configured to grasp a case containing the recorded media;
• and
• a controller in communication with the robotic element, the controller including processing circuitry and memory, the memory having first instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the controller to move the gripping assembly horizontally and vertically relative to the stacked shelves, the memory further having second instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the controller to test the performance of the robotic element.