Systems and methods of detecting, identifying and classifying objects positioned on a surface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11288629-B2
Application number	US-202117146050-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2021
Priority date	Nov 23, 2018
Publication date	Mar 29, 2022
Grant date	Mar 29, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods of detecting, identifying, and classifying objects positioned on a shelf are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a sensor pad comprises a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the pad as a matrix of rows and columns of electrical contacts. Further, each contact corresponds to a different surface area of the pad and has a first electrical conductor positioned on a first layer and a second electrical conductor positioned opposite to the first conductor on a second layer. Also, at least one of the first and second conductors is operable to vary in resistance or capacitance based on an amount of pressure applied to that conductor. In addition, each contact is configured to enable an electrical connection between the first and second conductors with a resistance or capacitance that varies based on an amount of pressure applied to a corresponding area of the pad when an object is positioned on that pad.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor pad, comprising:
a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the sensor pad with each contact corresponding to a certain surface area of the sensor pad, each contact being operable to have an electrical connection activated or deactivated when an object is placed on or removed from a corresponding surface area of the sensor pad and to indicate whether that electrical connection is activated or deactivated; and
a plurality of weight sensors disposed in the sensor pad with each sensor corresponding to a certain surface area of the sensor pad and being operable to measure a pressure applied to that surface area when an object is placed on that surface area, with the surface area that corresponds to each weight sensor being greater than the surface area that corresponds to each contact.

2. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein the electrical connection indications obtained from the contacts and the pressure measurements obtained from the weight sensors enable determining that an object is placed on or removed from a surface of the sensor pad.

3. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein each contact is configured to include a first electrical conductor disposed on a first layer of the sensor pad and a second electrical conductor disposed opposite to the first conductor on a second layer of the sensor pad, with each contact being further operable to have an electrical connection between the first and second conductors activated or deactivated when an object is placed on or removed from a corresponding surface area of the sensor pad.

4. The sensor pad of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first and second conductors of each contact is operable to vary in resistance or capacitance based on an amount of pressure applied to that conductor.

5. The sensor pad of claim 3 , wherein each contact is further operable to have an electrical connection between the first and second conductors with a resistance or capacitance that varies based on an amount of pressure applied to a corresponding surface area of the sensor pad when an object is placed on that surface.

6. The sensor pad of claim 5 , wherein each electrical connection indication includes a resistance or capacitance of the corresponding contact.

7. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein the contacts are disposed in the sensor pad as a matrix of rows and columns of electrical contacts.

8. The sensor pad of claim 7 , wherein the matrix of contacts is operable to be scanned to obtain resistances or capacitances of the rows and columns of contacts so that a resistance or capacitance can be determined for each contact based on the resistances and capacitances of the rows and columns of contacts.

9. The sensor pad of claim 8 , wherein the resistance or capacitance of each contact indicates whether that contact has an electrical connection that is activated or deactivated.

10. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein the weight sensors are disposed on a layer of the sensor pad that is different from a layer of the sensor pad having the contacts.

11. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein a layer of the sensor pad having the contacts is between the surface of the sensor pad and a layer of the sensor pad having the weight sensors.

12. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein a layer of the sensor pad having a rigid structure is disposed between a layer of the sensor pad having the contacts and a layer of the sensor pad having the weight sensors.

13. The sensor pad of claim 12 , wherein the rigid structure is operable to enable at least two weight sensors to measure a pressure applied to a surface area of the sensor pad when an object is placed on that surface area.

14. The sensor pad of claim 12 , wherein the rigid structure is operable to enable at least four weight sensors to measure a pressure applied to a certain surface area of the sensor pad when an object is placed towards a center of that surface area.

15. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to one weight sensor overlaps a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to a nother weight sensor.

16. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to one contact does not overlap a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to another contact.

17. The sensor pad of claim 1 , wherein a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to one contact overlaps a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to another contact.

18. A method performed by a processor of detecting an object placed on a surface of a sensor pad, comprising:
obtaining, from each of a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the sensor pad, an indication of whether an electrical connection of that contact is activated or deactivated, with each contact corresponding to a certain surface area of the sensor pad and being operable to have an electrical connection activated or deactivated when an object is placed on or removed from that surface area;
obtaining, from each of a plurality of weight sensors disposed in the sensor pad, a measurement of an amount of pressure applied to a surface area of the sensor pad that corresponds to that sensor, with each sensor corresponding to a certain surface area of the sensor pad and being operable to measure a pressure applied to that surface area when an object is placed on that surface area, with the surface area that corresponds to each weight sensor being greater than the surface area that corresponds to each contact; and
determining that an object is placed on the surface of the sensor pad based on the electrical connection indications and the pressure measurements.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
in response to determining that an object is placed on the surface of the sensor pad, determining at least one of a size, a shape, a location, a center of mass, and a weight of the object based on the electrical connection indications and the pressure measurements.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
determining that an object is properly positioned on the surface of the sensor pad based on at least one of a size, a shape, a location, a center of mass, a weight of the object, and a predetermined object map for the surface of that sensor pad.

21. A system, comprising:
a processor;
a sensor pad, comprising:
a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the sensor pad with each contact corresponding to a different surface area of the sensor pad, each contact being operable to have an electrical connection activated or deactivated when an object is placed on or removed from a corresponding surface area of the sensor pad and to indicate whether that electrical connection is activated or deactivated; and
a plurality of weight sensors disposed in the sensor pad with each sensor corresponding to a different surface area of the sensor pad and being operable to measure a pressure applied to that surface area when an object is placed on that surface area, with the surface area that corresponds to each weight sensor being greater than the surface area that corresponds to each contact;

a plurality of first analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) operationally coupled between the processor and the contacts and operable to obtain the electrical connection indications from the contacts;
a plurality of second ADCs operationally coupled between the processor and the weight sensors and operable to obtain pressure measurements from the sensors; and
wherein the processor is configured

Assignees

• Smart Supervision System LLC
• Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Kramarov Anton
• Tsirulnik Yevgeni

Classifications

• G06F3/045

  using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact · CPC title

• G01G7/06

  by electrostatic action · CPC title

• G01G19/42

  for counting by weighing (G01G19/387 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/0447

  Position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells · CPC title

• G06F3/0446

  using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes · CPC title