Commodity transfer apparatus and control method for same

A method of controlling a product transfer apparatus for moving a product placed on a stock shelf to a product display shelf which is different from the stock shelf,

• the product transfer apparatus comprising:
• an arm unit having a holder unit configured to hold the product;
• an image capture unit configured to obtain image data including at least a portion of the product held by the holder unit for placing the product on a shelf plate of the product display shelf and placed above the front side of the shelf plate by the arm unit, and at least a portion of the shelf plate;
• and
• a control unit configured to control operation of the holder unit, the arm unit, and the image capture unit, and
• wherein the method is performed by the control unit and including:
• identifying, based on the image data, the relationship between the height of a reference position of the product from an upper surface of the shelf plate and the height of a reference position of the shelf plate;
• and
• correcting, based on the identified relationship, the height of the reference position of the product relative to the reference position of the shelf plate by operating the arm unit for moving the product.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program when executed by one or more processors, configures the one or more processors to control a product transfer apparatus to move a product placed on a stock shelf to a product display shelf which is different from the stock shelf,

• the product transfer apparatus comprising:
• an arm unit having a holder unit configured to hold the product;
• an image capture unit configured to obtain image data including at least a portion of the product held by the holder unit for placing the product on a shelf plate of the product display shelf and placed above the front side of the shelf plate by the arm unit, and at least a portion of the shelf plate;
• and
• a control unit configured to control operation of the holder unit, the arm unit, and the image capture unit,
• wherein the program allows the control unit to perform:
• identifying, based on the image data, the relationship between the height of a reference position of the product from an upper surface of the shelf plate and the height of a reference position of the shelf plate;
• and
• correcting, based on the identified relationship, the height of the reference position of the product relative to the reference position of the shelf plate by operating the arm unit for moving the product.