What is claimed is:
1. A method of conducting an auction in at least two rounds, comprising:
forming a rule for a second auction round;
conducting the first auction round; and
conducting the second auction round in accordance with an application of the rule to an occurrence in the first auction round.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the occurrence includes an outcome of the first auction round.
3. A method of conducting an auction in at least two rounds, wherein at least two bidders bid in the auction, comprising:
forming a rule for a second auction round;
conducting the first auction round;
determining an outcome of the first auction round;
applying the rule to the outcome of the first auction round; and
conducting a second auction round in accordance with the applied rule.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the rule includes selecting at least two leading bidders from the first auction round.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the rule includes permitting only the at least two leading bidders to participate in the second auction round.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the rule includes selecting a winning bidder from the first auction round.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the rule includes not permitting the winning bidder to participate in the second auction round.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein said forming a rule for a second auction round precedes conducting said first auction round.
9. The method of claim 3, wherein the bidders are electronically coupled to an auction coordinator during the conducting of the first and second auction rounds.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the bidders submit bids to the auction coordinator online during the conducting of the first and second auction rounds.
11. The method of claim 3, wherein the auction is a reverse auction.
12. The method of claim 3, wherein the auction is a forward auction.
13. The method of claim 3, wherein the bidders participate in a sealed bid in the first auction round and are electronically coupled to an auction coordinator online during the second auction round.
14. The method of claim 3, wherein the rule includes permitting only bidders bidding less than a predetermined amount to participate in the second auction round.
15. A method of conducting an auction in at least two rounds, comprising:
determining that a bidder may participate in a subsequent auction round if that bidder has not been awarded a contract in a previous auction round;
conducting a first auction round;
awarding a contract to a bidder in the first auction round; and
conducting a second auction round including only bidders that were not awarded a contract in the first auction round.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising soliciting potential bidders.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein soliciting potential bidders includes:
preparing a request for quotation;
providing the request for quotation to potential bidders; and
requesting that potential bidders respond to the request for quotation.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said request for quotation includes an identification of goods to be purchased.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein said request for quotation includes an identification of services to be purchased.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
awarding a contract to a bidder in the second auction round; and
conducting a third auction including only bidders that were not awarded a contract in the first auction round and bidders that were not awarded a contract in the second auction round.
21. A method of conducting an auction in at least two rounds, comprising:
determining that a bidder may participate in a subsequent auction round if that bidder is a leading bidder in a previous auction round;
conducting a first auction round which includes a plurality of bidders;
designating one or more of the plurality of bidders as non-leading bidders in accordance with the conducting of the first auction round; and
conducting a second auction round that excludes the non-leading bidders from the first auction round.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising conducting a third auction round including only leading bidders in the first round auction.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising conducting a third auction round including only leading bidders in the second round auction.
24. The method of claim 21, wherein a plurality of bidders may participate in a subsequent auction round.
25. A system for conducting an auction in rounds, comprising:
a sponsor processor;
a first bidder processor communicating with said sponsor processor; and
a second bidder processor communicating with said sponsor processor;
wherein said sponsor processor contains instructions which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to:
conduct a first auction round;
apply a rule to an occurrence in the first auction round; and
conduct a second auction round in accordance with the applied rule.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein said first bidder processor and said second bidder processor communicate through an auction coordinator during the first and second auction rounds.
27. The system of claim 25, wherein said first bidder processor and said second bidder processor communicate through the Internet during the first and second auction rounds.
28. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
conduct a first auction round;
apply a rule to an occurrence in the first auction round; and
conduct a second auction round in accordance with the applied rule.
29. A bidding device operated by a bidder during an online auction, said bidding device comprising software that enables the bidder to submit bids to a sponsor processor during a first auction round;
wherein the sponsor processor applies a rule to an occurrence in the first auction round; and
wherein the bidding device is selectively enabled to allow the bidder to submit bids to the sponsor processor in a second auction round in accordance with the applied rule.
30. The bidding device of claim 29, wherein the bidding device is enabled to allow the bidder to submit bids to the sponsor processor in the second auction round only if the bidder has not been awarded a contract in the first auction round.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A skid steer drive robot comprising:
a skid steer drive;
a drive wheel and a first volume defined within the skid steer drive adjacent the drive wheel;
a load shifting assembly including a tilt motor, the load shifting assembly defining a second volume adjacent the tilt motor;
a chassis defining a third volume adjacent the drive wheel; and
motive power elements distributed among the first volume, the second volume, and the third volume, the motive power elements comprising a battery assembly, a main drive motor assembly, and a load shifting motor assembly, wherein the main drive motor assembly comprises a main drive motor amplifier and a main drive motor, and wherein the load shifting motor assembly comprises a load shifting motor amplifier and a load shifting motor, and wherein the first volume houses the main drive motor amplifier and the load shifting motor amplifier, the second volume houses the battery assembly, and the third volume houses the main drive motor and the load shifting motor.
2. A skid steer drive robot comprising:
a skid steer drive;
a drive wheel and a first volume defined within the skid steer drive adjacent the drive wheel;
a load shifting assembly including a tilt motor, the load shifting assembly defining a second volume adjacent the tilt motor;
a chassis defining a third volume adjacent the drive wheel; and
motive power elements distributed among the first volume, the second volume, and the third volume, the motive power elements comprising a battery assembly, a main drive motor assembly, and a load shifting motor assembly, wherein the main drive motor assembly comprises a main drive motor amplifier and a main drive motor, and wherein the load shifting motor assembly comprises a load shifting motor amplifier and a load shifting motor, and wherein the first volume houses the main drive motor amplifier, the second volume houses the battery assembly and the load tilting motor, so that the battery assembly tilts together with the load shifting assembly, and the third volume houses the main drive motor.
3. A mobile robot comprising:
a skid steer drive having a drive wheel and defining a first volume adjacent the drive wheel;
a load shifting assembly defining a second volume; and
a chassis defining a third volume adjacent the drive wheel and a through space configured to receive the load shifting assembly;
motive power elements distributed among the first volume, the second volume, and the third volume, the motive power elements comprising a battery assembly, a main drive motor assembly, and a load shifting motor assembly.
4. The mobile robot of claim 3, wherein the load shifting assembly comprises a load tilting motor and a load shifting motor, the load shifting assembly defining the second volume adjacent the tilt motor.
5. The mobile robot of claim 3, wherein the main drive motor assembly comprises a main drive motor amplifier and a main drive motor, the load shifting motor assembly comprises a load shifting motor amplifier and a load shifting motor.
6. The mobile robot of claim 5, wherein the first volume houses the main drive motor amplifier and the load shifting motor amplifier, the second volume houses the battery assembly, and the third volume houses the main drive motor and the load shifting motor.
7. The mobile robot of claim 5, wherein the first volume houses the main drive motor amplifier, the second volume houses the battery assembly and the load tilting motor, so that the battery assembly tilts together with the load shifting assembly, and the third volume houses the main drive motor.
8. The mobile robot of claim 3, further comprising right and left driven flippers rotatable about a pivot axis near a forward end of the chassis, each flipper having a drive wheel and defining a flipper volume adjacent to the drive wheel, the motive power elements being distributed among the first volume, the second volume, the third volume, and the flipper volumes.
9. An environmentally sealed mobile robot comprising:
a skid steer drive defining a first volume;
a cast unitary load shifting assembly defining a second volume;
a cast unitary chassis defining a third volume adjacent the skid steer drive, the third volume internally connected to a fourth volume defined by the chassis adjacent the first volume by a chassis passageway defined by the chassis; and
a sealed linkage defining a linkage passageway therethrough connecting the second volume and the third volume; and
wherein the third volume houses a main drive motor, the first volume and the fourth volume hermetically house a main drive motor amplifier delivering power to the main drive motor through the chassis passageway, the second volume hermetically houses a battery assembly and the load tilting motor so that the battery assembly tilts together with the load shifting assembly, the battery delivering power to the main drive motor amplifier and main drive motor through the linkage passageway.