# US 2014/0152874 A1 · Transmission of images for inventory monitoring

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- Number: US 2014/0152874 A1
- Document ID: US20140152874A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/693,503
- Filed: 2012-12-04
- Published: 2014-06-05
- Earliest claimed: 2012-12-04
- Assignees: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
- Applicants: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
- Inventors: RICHARD M. CLAYTON; KARTHIK LAKSHMINARAYANAN; MIKLOS STERN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140152874A1

## CPC

- G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
- G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
- G06Q 10/0877: {by inventory control or reporting using inventory tracking or counting}
- G06T 7/0008: {checking presence/absence}
- G06T 7/001: {using an image reference approach}
- H04N 1/00204: {with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server (programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561)}
- H04N 5/272: Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay
- H04N 7/181: {for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources}
- G06T 2207/20221: Image fusion; Image merging
- G06T 2207/30108: Industrial image inspection
- H04N 2201/0084: Digital still camera
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A method and apparatus for transmitting an image for inventory monitoring is provided herein. During operation, a camera may take a series of images of a particular area to be monitored. Each image will be broken into a plurality of regions and a determination will be made if a region is at least partially blocked. Those regions deemed unblocked will be utilized to generate a composite image. The camera continues acquiring images, using unblocked regions until a complete composite image is formed without obstructions. The composite image will then be transmitted and used for inventory monitoring.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for transmitting an image, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving a first image;
determining if a portion of the first image is unblocked; and
using the unblocked portion to create a composite image, wherein the composite image is created from multiple unblocked portions from multiple images.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:
transmitting the composite image.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
determining that a portion of the composite image remains blocked;
requesting a second image from a camera when it is determined that the portions of the composite image remains blocked;
receiving the second image; and
merging unblocked regions of the second image with unblocked regions of the first image to form the composite image.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of determining if the portion of the first image is unblocked and determining that the portion of the composite image remains blocked comprises the steps of:
identifying the presense of absence of specifc image features at specific locations in an image; and
where the absence of one or more features is used to determine that an area of the image is blocked.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:
determining that the portion of the composite image has remained blocked for longer than a predetermined period of time;
including the blocked portion in the composite image.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
identifying the relative level of blockage of a each region in the current image;
comparing this level of blockage to the level of blockage of the corresponding region in the composite image; and
merging the current image region into the corresponding composite region if the current image region has less blockage.

### Claim 7

An apparatus comprising:
a camera receiving a first image;
a processor determining if a portion of the first image is unblocked and using the unblocked portion to create a composite image, wherein the composite image is created from multiple unblocked portions from multiple images.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising:
a communications interface transmitting the composite image.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:
the processor determines that a portion of the composite image remains blocked and requests a second image from the camera when it is determined that the portions of the composite image remain blocked, receives the second image, and merges unblocked regions of the second image with unblocked regions of the first image to form the composite image.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the processor determines if the portion of the first image is unblocked and determines that the portion of the composite image remains blocked by identifying the presence or absence of specific image features at specific locations in an image and where the absence of one or more features is used to determine that an area of the image is blocked.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein if the processor determines that the portion of the composite image has remained blocked for longer than a predetermined period of time, the processor includes the blocked portion in the composite image.