Food inventory method and system

A food inventory tracking system for a refrigerated food storage compartment, comprising:

• a) at least four rear-facing cameras located at a forward end of the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the cameras are configured for capturing images of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• b) at least four forward-facing cameras located at a rear end of the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the cameras are configured for capturing images of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• c) at least four load cell sensors located within the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the at least four load cell sensors are configured for taking weight measurements of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• d) a computing system within the refrigerated food storage compartment, the computing system including a processor and a memory, the computing system configured for:
• 1) generating a three-dimensional location map of an interior of the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• 2) reading images from the at least four rear-facing cameras, reading images from the at least four forward-facing cameras, and reading weight measurements from the at least four load cell sensors;
• 3) mapping the images from the at least four rear-facing cameras to segments of the three-dimensional location map, mapping the images from the at least four forward-facing cameras to segments of the three-dimensional location map, and mapping the weight measurements to segments of the three-dimensional location map, such that each segment of the three-dimensional location map is associated with images and weight measurements;
• 4) for each segment of the three-dimensional location map, identifying a type of food item within said segment based on the images and weight measurements associated with said segment;
• 5) for each food item that was identified, calculating a current amount of said food item based on the images and weight measurements associated with the segment in which the food item is located;
• and
• 6) for each food item that was identified, reporting to a user the type of said food item and the amount of said food item.

A food inventory tracking system for a refrigerated food storage compartment, comprising:

• a) at least four rear-facing cameras located at a forward end of the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the cameras are configured for capturing images of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• b) at least four forward-facing cameras located at a rear end of the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the cameras are configured for capturing images of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• c) at least four load cell sensors located within the refrigerated food storage compartment, wherein the at least four load cell sensors are configured for taking weight measurements of food stored within the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• d) a network connection device coupled to the at least four rear-facing cameras, the at least four forward-facing cameras, and at least four load cell sensors, the network connection device configured for transmitting images and weight measurements from the at least four rear-facing cameras, the at least four forward-facing cameras, and the at least four load cell sensors to a server;
• e) the server including a processor and a memory, the computing system configured for:
• 1) receiving images and weight measurements from the at least four rear-facing cameras, the at least four forward-facing cameras, and at the least four load cell sensors;
• 2) generating a three-dimensional location map of an interior of the refrigerated food storage compartment;
• 3) mapping the images from the at least four rear-facing cameras to segments of the three-dimensional location map, mapping the images from the at least four forward-facing cameras to segments of the three-dimensional location map, and mapping the weight measurements to segments of the three-dimensional location map, such that each segment of the three-dimensional location map is associated with images and weight measurements;
• 4) for each segment of the three-dimensional location map, identifying a type of food item within said segment based on the images and weight measurements associated with said segment;
• 5) for each food item that was identified, calculating a current amount of said food item based on the images and weight measurements associated with the segment in which the food item is located;
• and
• 6) for each food item that was identified, reporting to a user the type of said food item and the amount of said food item.