System and method for inspecting items

A system for monitoring operation of human operators at a transit facility, wherein the system comprises:

• a plurality of data collection units located at a plurality of transit facilities;
• a decision entity, in communication with data collection units at a selected one of the transit facilities;
• and
• a server connectable to each of the data collection units, the server comprising:
• a data store storing inspection data, obtained from the data collection units, indicative of instances of item inspection at the plurality of transit facilities;
• and
• a processor coupled to the data store and operable to update the data store based on data gathered at the data collection units;
• wherein, for an item in transit through a transit facility, the system is configured to:
• obtain item data providing an indication of a predicted level of inspection for the item and provide said item data to the decision entity;
• obtain, from the decision entity, a decided level of inspection for the item;
• identify instances in which the predicted level of inspection for the item differs from the decided level of inspection for the item;
• and
• for each said instance, in the event that a monitoring metric is greater than a selected threshold, output a command signal to investigate the decided level of inspection, wherein the monitoring metric is indicative of a likelihood that the difference in level of inspection should be investigated and is determined based on an indication of:
• (i) the predicted level of inspection for the item, and (ii) the decided level of inspection for the item.

A method of controlling inspection of an item in transit through a transit facility, wherein the transit facility is part of a system comprising:

• a plurality of data collection units located at a plurality of transit facilities;
• a decision entity, in communication with data collection units at a selected one of the transit facilities;
• and
• a server connectable to each of the data collection units, the server comprising:
• a data store storing inspection data, obtained from the data collection units, indicative of instances of item inspection at the plurality of transit facilities;
• and
• a processor coupled to the data store and operable to update the data store based on data gathered at the data collection units;
• wherein the method comprises:
• obtaining item data providing an indication of a predicted level of inspection for the item and providing said item data to the decision entity;
• obtaining, from the decision entity, a decided level of inspection for the item;
• and
• outputting a command signal to control inspection of the item in accordance with a final level of inspection assigned to the item, wherein the final level of inspection is selected based on an indication of:
• (i) the predicted level of inspection for the item, and (ii) the decided level of inspection for the item.

A method of monitoring operation of human operators at a transit facility, wherein the transit facility is part of a system comprising:

• a plurality of data collection units located at a plurality of transit facilities;
• a decision entity, in communication with data collection units at a selected one of the transit facilities;
• and
• a server connectable to each of the data collection units, the server comprising:
• a data store storing inspection data, obtained from the data collection units, indicative of instances of item inspection at the plurality of transit facilities;
• and
• a processor coupled to the data store and operable to update the data store based on data gathered at the data collection units;
• wherein, for an item in transit through a transit facility, method comprises:
• obtaining item data providing an indication of a predicted level of inspection for the item and providing said item data to the decision entity;
• obtaining, from the decision entity, a decided level of inspection for the item;
• identifying instances in which the predicted level of inspection for the item differs from the decided level of inspection for the item;
• and
• for each said instance, in the event that a monitoring metric is greater than a selected threshold, outputting a command signal to investigate the decided level of inspection, wherein the monitoring metric is indicative of a likelihood that the difference in level of inspection should be investigated and is determined based on an indication of:
• (i) the predicted level of inspection for the item, and (ii) the decided level of inspection for the item.