US 10,332,066 B1 · Item management system using weight

A system comprising:

a shelf to hold a type of item in one of a plurality of partitioned areas;
a plurality of weight sensors, each weight sensor coupled to the shelf at different points;
a camera with a field-of-view that includes at least a portion of the plurality of partitioned areas;
and
a computing device comprising:
a memory, storing computer-executable instructions;
and
a hardware processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
access first weight data acquired by the plurality of weight sensors at a first time;
access second weight data acquired by the plurality of weight sensors at a second time;
determine, using the first weight data, a first weight distribution of the shelf at the first time;
determine, using the second weight data, a second weight distribution of the shelf at the second time;
determine, using a difference between the first weight distribution and the second weight distribution, a location of weight change indicative of a location with respect to the shelf;
determine a partitioned area corresponding to the location of weight change;
determine measured weight change data indicative of a difference between a first total weight at the first time and a second total weight at the second time;
access item data indicative of weight of a single one of the type of item and placement of the type of item within the one of the plurality of partitioned areas;
determine a plurality of hypotheses with each hypothesis indicative of a predicted quantity of the type of item and one or more of:
a predicted weight change for the predicted quantity corresponding to the each hypothesis,
a predicted weight distribution based on the predicted weight change and the placement of the type of item within the one of the plurality of partitioned areas, or
a predicted change in weight distribution based on the predicted weight change and the placement of the type of item within a predicted partitioned area;
determine one or more selected hypotheses from the plurality of hypotheses for which:
the location of weight change is within the one of the plurality of partitioned areas indicated by the item data for the type of item, and
a difference between the measured weight change data and the predicted weight change is less than a threshold value;
access image data acquired by the camera;
determine, using the image data, activity data indicative of a hand at the one of the plurality of partitioned areas;
determine one of the one or more selected hypotheses for which the predicted partitioned area matches:
the one of the plurality of partitioned areas that the location of weight change is within, and
the one of the plurality of partitioned areas indicated in the activity data;
generate, based on the one of the one or more selected hypotheses, interaction data indicative of one or more of pick or place of a quantity of the type of item at the one of the plurality of partitioned areas;
and
update, using the interaction data, a quantity stored in the item data.

28 more elements

A system comprising:

an inventory location to hold one or more types of items;
a plurality of weight sensors coupled to the inventory location to generate weight data indicative of weight of a load, each of the weight sensors coupled to a different point of the inventory location;
a sensor;
and
a computing device comprising:
a memory, storing computer-executable instructions;
and
a hardware processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
determine a measured change in the weight of the load between a first time and a second time;
determine a measured change in weight distribution between the first time and the second time;
determine a plurality of hypotheses, each hypothesis indicative of different combinations of:
the one or more types of items, predicted quantity of each of the one or more types of items, and one or more of:
predicted change in weight, or predicted change in weight distribution;
access non-weight data acquired by the sensor;
determine activity data based on the non-weight data;
and
determine one of the plurality of hypotheses based on the activity data and one or more of:
the measured change in the weight or the measured change in the weight distribution.

15 more elements

A computer implemented method executing on at least one processor, the computer implemented method comprising:

accessing non-weight data acquired by one or more non-weight sensors;
determining one or more measured weight characteristics of a load measured by a plurality of weight sensors;
accessing one or more hypotheses, each hypothesis including:
a predicted quantity of one or more items,
a predicted location within the load of each of the one or more items, and
a predicted weight characteristic based on the predicted quantity and the predicted location for the one or more items;
determining one of the one or more hypotheses based on the one or more measured weight characteristics and the non-weight data;
and
generating interaction data based on the one of the one or more hypotheses.

6 more elements

Item management system using weight

Life of this patent

Item management system using weight

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims22