Robotic pill filling, counting, and validation
AssigneeWalmart Apollo, LLC
InventorsSteven Jackson Lewis, Brandon Worth, William Hogg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can analyze image(s) of pill son a tray captured by an imaging device to count the quantity of pills dispensed on the tray; generate visual proof of inventory fills for controlled substance reporting; validate correctness of items, by color, size, shape, inscription; and/or detect foreign objects, such as broken pills, incorrect pills, and/or other objects on tray. The image(s) can be augmented based on the analysis of the image(s) and augmented image(s) can be rendered on a display.
Claims18
A method of analyzing an image to identify and count pills being dispensed on a tray, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a computing device, an image including a surface of a tray and objects on the tray;
- executing, by the computing device, a sequence of image analysis techniques to identify individual objects in the image;
- and
- counting, by the computing device, each of the individual objects that are identified to determine a quantity of objects on the tray.
A system of analyzing an image to identify and count pills being dispensed on a tray, the system comprising:
- a tray;
- one or more light sources illuminating the tray;
- one or more imaging devices configured to capture images of a surface of the tray upon which objects are dispensed;
- a computing device configured to receive the images from the one or more imaging device, the computing device configured to:
- execute, by the computing device, a sequence of image analysis techniques to identify individual objects in the image;
- and
- count, by the computing device, each of the individual objects that are identified to determine a quantity of objects on the tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.