Planogram generation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10438165-B2
Application number	US-201715452554-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2017
Priority date	Mar 7, 2017
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

A system and method that generates a planogram from a realogram is disclosed. The method includes receiving, from an image processing module, a realogram, the realogram including an image and information about a set of items recognized in the image, generating a bounding box containing the set of recognized items, identifying a subset of the set of recognized items corresponding to a shelf, determining a location of each gap of a number of gaps on the shelf, determining a physical width of each gap of the number of gaps, and generating, from the realogram, a planogram based on the bounding box, the set of recognized items, the location, and the physical width of each of the number of gaps.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from an image processing module, a realogram, the realogram including an image and information about a set of recognized items in the image;
generating a bounding box containing the set of recognized items;
identifying a subset of the set of recognized items corresponding to a shelf;
determining a location of each gap of a number of gaps on the shelf;
determining a physical width of each gap of the number of gaps; and
generating, from the realogram, a planogram by preserving the location and the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps and horizontally and inwardly moving the subset of the set of recognized items such that a vertical edge of the subset of the set of recognized items occupy non-overlapping positions within the bounding box.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the location of each of the number of gaps on the shelf comprises:
determining a first location of a first gap between a left edge of the bounding box and a left edge of a first recognized item; and
determining a second location of a second gap between a right edge of a last recognized item and a right edge of the bounding box.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the location of each of the number of gaps on the shelf comprises:
determining locations of a plurality of gaps among the subset of the set of recognized items that are intermediate between the first recognized item and the last recognized item.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
determining a relative width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items, the relative width being expressed in units relative to the image;
determining a total relative width by summing the relative width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items;
determining a unique identifier of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items;
determining a physical width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items by using the unique identifier to look up a product database;
determining a total physical width by summing the physical width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items; and
determining a relative-to-physical width ratio based on the total relative width and the total physical width.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps comprises:
determining a relative width of each gap of the number of gaps, the relative width being expressed in units relative to the image; and
determining the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps using the relative-to-physical width ratio and the relative width of each gap of the number of gaps.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining a gap threshold for the shelf;
identifying a gap from the number of gaps;
determining whether the physical width of the gap satisfies the gap threshold; and
responsive to determining that the physical width of the gap satisfies the gap threshold, identifying the gap as a legitimate gap corresponding to a missing item or an unrecognized item.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the gap threshold for the shelf is based on an average physical width of the subset of the set of recognized items.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
generating a first portion of a user interface for displaying the realogram;
generating a second portion of the user interface for displaying the planogram;
generating a third portion of the user interface for displaying a tabular representation of the product database;
receiving, on the user interface, a user input for associating an item from the tabular representation of the product database with the gap in the planogram; and
updating the planogram by associating the gap with the item responsive to the user input.

9. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory, the memory storing instructions, which when executed cause the one or more processors to:
receive a realogram, the realogram including an image and information about a set of recognized items in the image;
generate a bounding box containing the set of recognized items;
identify a subset of the set of recognized items corresponding to a shelf;
determine a location of each gap of a number of gaps on the shelf;
determine a physical width of each gap of the number of gaps; and
generate, from the realogram, a planogram by preserving the location and the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps and horizontally and inwardly moving the subset of the set of recognized items such that a vertical edge of the subset of the set of recognized items occupy non-overlapping positions within the bounding box.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein to determine the location of each of the number of gaps on the shelf, the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a first location of a first gap between a left edge of the bounding box and a left edge of a first recognized item; and
determine a second location of a second gap between a right edge of a last recognized item and a right edge of the bounding box.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein to determine the location of each of the number of gaps on the shelf, the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine locations of a plurality of gaps among the subset of the set of recognized items that are intermediate between the first recognized item and the last recognized item.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a relative width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items, the relative width being expressed in units relative to the image;
determine a total relative width by summing the relative width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items;
determine a unique identifier of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items;
determine a physical width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items by using the unique identifier to look up a product database;
determine a total physical width by summing the physical width of each item of the subset of the set of recognized items; and
determine a relative-to-physical width ratio based on the total relative width and the total physical width.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein to determine the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps, the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a relative width of each gap of the number of gaps, the relative width being expressed in units relative to the image; and
determine the physical width of each gap of the number of gaps using the relative-to-physical width ratio and the relative width of each gap of the number of gaps.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a gap threshold for the shelf;
identify a gap from the number of gaps;
determine whether the physical width of the gap satisfies the gap threshold; and
in response to determining that the physical width of the gap satisfies the gap threshold, identify the gap as a legitimate gap corresponding to a missing item or an unrecognized item.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
receive a realogram, the realogram including an image and information about a set of recognized items in the image;
generate a bounding box con

Assignees

• Findlay Roland
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Findlay Roland

Classifications

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title