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US 10,949,804 B2Granted
Tote based item tracking
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsVaradarajan Gopalakrishnan, Subram Narasimhan, Omar FawazHashim Zakaria, Dilip Kumar, Sridhar Boyapati, Jin Dong Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This disclosure describes a system for managing inventory as it transitions into a materials handling facility, as it transitions between locations within a materials handling facility and/or as it transitions out of a materials handling facility. In some instances, a user (e.g., picker or picking agent) may retrieve an item from an inventory location and place the item into a tote. The systems described herein detect the item when it is added to or removed from the tote.
Claims24
A tote configured to identify items contained in the tote, the tote comprising:
- a base surface;
- a plurality of side surfaces coupled to the base surface and positioned to define a cavity;
- a first antenna coupled to at least one of the plurality of side surfaces and defining a first plane substantially parallel with the base surface, the first antenna configured to detect an interruption of the first plane as an item passes through the first plane;
- a second antenna coupled to at least one of the plurality of side surfaces and defining a second plane substantially parallel with the base surface, the second antenna configured to detect an interruption of the second plane as the item passes through the second plane;
- a computing system coupled to the tote and in communication with the first antenna and the second antenna, the computing system including:
- one or more processors;
- and
- a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
- receive from the first antenna first information, the first information indicating that the first plane was interrupted;
- receive from the second antenna second information, the second information indicating that the second plane was interrupted;
- determine an item identifier corresponding to the item;
- increase a count for the item identifier;
- determine that the count for the item identifier exceeds a threshold;
- and
- based on the determination that the count for the item identifier exceeds the threshold, add the item identifier to a tote item list.
12 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a base surface;
- a plurality of side surfaces coupled to the base surface and positioned to define a cavity;
- a first receiving component positioned within the cavity and defining a first plane, the first receiving component configured to detect an interruption of the first plane as an item passes through the first plane;
- a second receiving component positioned within the cavity and defining a second plane, the second receiving component configured to detect an interruption of the second plane as the item passes through the second plane;
- a computing system coupled to the apparatus and in communication with the first receiving component and the second receiving component, the computing system including:
- one or more processors;
- and
- a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
- receive from the first receiving component a first information, the first information indicating that the first plane was interrupted;
- receive from the second receiving component second information, the second information indicating that the second plane was interrupted;
- determine an item identifier corresponding to the item;
- increase a count for the item identifier;
- determine that the count for the item identifier exceeds a threshold;
- and
- based on the determination that the count for the item identifier exceeds the threshold, add the item identifier to a tote item list.
12 more elements
A computer-implemented method for managing a tote item list for a tote, comprising:
- under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions,
- scanning a cavity of the tote to identify a plurality of item identifiers included in the tote;
- identifying a first item identifier of the plurality of item identifiers included in the tote that is included in the tote item list;
- determining that a second item identifier of the identified plurality of item identifiers is not included in the tote item list;
- updating the tote item list to include the second item identifier;
- determining a third item identifier included in the tote item list that is not in the identified plurality of item identifiers included in the tote;
- decreasing a count for the third item identifier;
- determining that the count for the third item identifier is less than a threshold;
- and
- removing from the tote item list the third item identifier.
7 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a base surface;
- a plurality of side surfaces coupled to the base surface and positioned to define a cavity;
- a first receiving component configured to detect an item as the item enters or exits the cavity;
- a second receiving component configured to detect an item as the item enters or exits the cavity;
- a computing system in communication with the first receiving component, the computing system including:
- one or more processors;
- and
- a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
- receive from the first receiving component first information indicating that a first item was detected by the first receiving component;
- receive from the second receiving component second information indicating that the first item was detected by the second receiving component;
- determine, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, that the item entered the cavity;
- based at least in part on the determination, increase a count for an item identifier representative of the item;
- determine that the count for the item identifier exceeds a threshold;
- and
- based at least in part on the determination that the count for the item identifier exceeds a threshold, add the item identifier to a tote item list, wherein the tote item list is associated with a user.
12 more elements
A method, comprising:
- scanning a tote with a first antenna to detect a first plurality of item identifiers;
- scanning the tote with a second antenna to detect a second plurality of item identifiers;
- determining that an item identifier included in at least one of the first plurality of item identifiers or the second plurality of item identifiers is not included in a tote item list;
- increasing an item count for the item identifier;
- determining a second item identifier included in the tote item list that is not included in the plurality of item identifiers;
- decreasing a count for the second item identifier;
- determining that the count for the second item identifier is less than a threshold;
- and
- in response to determining that the count is less than the threshold, removing from the tote item list the second item identifier.
6 more elements
A method, comprising:
- detecting a plurality of item identifiers;
- determining that an item identifier included in a list is not in the identified plurality of item identifiers;
- decreasing a count of the item identifier;
- determining that the count for the item identifier is below a threshold;
- and
- in response to determining that the count for the item identifier is below the threshold, removing item identifier from the list.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.