Distributed Sensor System and Method for Inventory Management and Predictive Replenishment
AssigneeWalmart Apollo, LLC
InventorSomedip Karmakar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An system and a method for scoring products viewed by a user prior to making a purchase decision and also identify the products considered most before ultimately purchasing. The system uses sensors placed on the shelves to identify the item viewed before making a purchase decision and also track the time spent per decision. The tracking will allow viewed and ultimately bought scores and item similarity scores to be determined. The scores in conjunction with point-of-sale terminal data to identify times determinative of users' interest levels prior to a purchase. The system predicatively replenishes inventory of high interest items based on historical patterns of interest and historical point-of-sale terminal data.
Claims20
A distributed sensor inventory management system comprising:
- an array of sensor modules distributed along a shelving unit in a facility, each of the sensor modules in the array being associated with items on the shelving unit;
- a first server in selective communication with the sensor modules, the first server configured to:
- receive sensing data from one or more of the sensor modules in the array in response to detection of one or more users by the one or more of the sensor modules;
- detect, from the sensing data, a continued presence of the one or more users within range of the one or more of the sensor modules for a first period of time;
- identify, from the sensing data, that at least one of the one or more users is located in front of a first item for a specified amount of time and removes the first item from the shelving unit;
- and
- a second server in selective communication with the first server, the second server being configured to:
- receive a message from the first server in response to the removal of the first item;
- update an inventory record in a database, the inventory record corresponding to the first item;
- determine, responsive to the updating of the inventory record, whether inventory record satisfies an inventory threshold;
- and
- generate a replenishment signal, responsive to the determining, to notify a third party system to provide of a quantity of the first item to the facility.
An inventory management method in a distributed sensor system comprising:
- receiving, at a first server, sensing data from one or more of sensor modules in an array in response to detection of one or more users by the one or more of the sensor modules;
- detecting, from the sensing data, a continued presence of the one or more users within range of one or more of the sensor modules, for a first period of time;
- identifying, from the sensing data, that at least one of the one or more users is located in front of a first item for a specified amount of time and removes the first item from the shelving unit;
- updating, an inventory record in a database via a second server in response to a message from the first server corresponding to the removal of the first item, the inventory record corresponding to the first item;
- determining, via the second server, whether the inventory record satisfies an inventory threshold in response to the inventory record being updated;
- and
- generating, via the second server, a replenishment signal to notify a third party system to provide a quantity of the first item to the facility in response to determining that the inventory record satisfies the inventory threshold.
A non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon, instructions that when executed in a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
- receive sensing data from one or more of sensor modules in an array in response to detection of one or more users by the one or more of the sensor modules;
- detect, from the sensing data, a continued presence of the one or more users within range of the one or more of the sensor modules, for a first period of time;
- identify, from the sensing data, that at least one of the one or more users is located in front of a first item for a specified amount of time and removes the first item from the shelving unit;
- update an inventory record in a database, the inventory record corresponding to the first item;
- determine, responsive to the updating of the inventory record, whether inventory record satisfies an inventory threshold;
- and
- generate a replenishment signal, responsive to the determining, to notify a third party system to provide a quantity of the first item to the facility.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.