Leftover load detection method using image recognition in a laundry appliance

A laundry appliance comprising:

• a cabinet;
• a basket rotatably mounted within the cabinet and defining a chamber configured for receiving a load of clothes;
• a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the chamber;
• a camera assembly mounted within the cabinet and in view of the chamber;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the camera assembly, the controller being configured to:
• determine that an operating cycle of the laundry appliance has been completed by identifying at least one of the following:
• determining that a last function or sub cycle of a washing machine appliance has been performed for a particular load of clothes;
• or
• determining that a door is unlocked after the operating cycle;
• determine that a user has removed the load of clothes by identifying at least one of the following:
• determining that the door has been opened and determining that the door has been closed;
• determining that the door has been opened and determining that no other action has been taken within a predetermined time;
• wherein the laundry appliance is a washing machine appliance, and determining that a user has initiated a cycle selection for an associated dryer appliance;
• or determining that one or more buttons on the laundry appliance have been depressed to begin initiation of another operating cycle;
• obtain one or more images of the chamber using the camera assembly;
• identify a leftover article remaining in the chamber by analyzing the one or more images of the chamber;
• and
• implement a responsive action in response to identifying the leftover article remaining in the chamber.