Managing shipments based on data from a sensor-based automatic replenishment device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11354617-B1
Application number	US-201815918205-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 12, 2018
Priority date	Mar 12, 2018
Publication date	Jun 7, 2022
Grant date	Jun 7, 2022

Abstract

Techniques for selecting a delivery method based on sensor data of an automatic replenishment device (ARD) are described. In an example, a computer system is communicatively coupled with the ARD and receives the sensor data from the ARD. The sensor data is generated by a sensor of the ARD and indicates an amount of an item that is stored by the ARD. The computer system maintains, in a profile, a consumption rate based on the sensor data. The computer system determines that the amount of the item is less than a threshold amount based on the consumption rate and, based on this amount, identifies available delivery methods for a delivery of a replacement amount of the item. The computer system selects one of the delivery methods based on the consumption rate and causes the delivery of the replacement amount of the item based on the selected delivery method.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
an automatic replenishing device (ARD) associated with a user profile, comprising a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor, and located at a user location; and
a computer system communicatively coupled with the ARD and comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
receiving ToF sensor data from the ARD, the ToF sensor data generated by the ToF sensor of the ARD and received at a data collection frequency, the data collection frequency being based at least in part on a consumption rate of an item and a power source of the ARD;
determining an amount of the item that is stored by the ARD, the amount of the item determined based at least in part on the ToF sensor data;
storing a value of the amount in a history of values over time, the history maintained in the user profile, and the values determined based at least in part on previously received ToF sensor data;
maintaining, in the user profile, the consumption rate based at least in part on the history, the consumption rate indicating a consumption of the amount of the item over time;
identifying a plurality of available delivery methods for a delivery of a replacement amount of the item to the user location, the plurality of available delivery methods comprising a default delivery method associated with a default consumption rate;
determining that the consumption rate is smaller than the default consumption rate;
selecting a non-default delivery method from the plurality of available delivery methods based at least in part on the consumption rate being smaller than the default consumption rate, the non-default delivery method being slower than the default delivery method and associated with a different type of delivery resources than the default delivery method; and
requesting the delivery of the replacement amount of the item to the user location based at least in part on the non-default delivery method.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
updating the consumption rate based at least in part on additional sensor data received from the ARD after an initiation of the delivery;
determining, based at least in part on the updated consumption rate, that the amount of the item stored by the ARD will be depleted prior to a completion of the delivery;
selecting a second delivery method from the plurality of available delivery methods, the second delivery method being faster than the non-default delivery method; and
causing a second delivery of a second replacement amount of the item to the user location based at least in part on the second delivery method.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise:
sending a notification about the replacement amount and the second replacement amount to a user device associated with the user profile, the notification comprising an option to initiate a return of the replacement amount from the user location.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein selecting the non-default delivery method comprises:
predicting, based at least in part on the consumption rate, a run-out date by which the amount of the item stored by the ARD will be depleted; and
determining that the non-default delivery method has a delivery time frame occurring by the run-out date.

5. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, at a data collection frequency, sensor data from a device that stores an amount of an item and that comprises a sensor, the sensor data generated by the sensor and indicating the amount of the item, the sensor comprising at least one a time of flight sensor or a weight sensor, the data collection frequency being based at least in part on a consumption rate of the item and a power source of the device;
maintaining, in a profile associated with a user, the consumption rate of the item based at least in part on the sensor data, the consumption rate indicating a consumption of the amount of the item over time;
identifying a plurality of available delivery methods for a delivery of a replacement amount of the item, the plurality of available delivery methods comprising a default delivery method associated with a default consumption rate;
selecting, from the plurality of available delivery methods, a delivery method other than the default delivery method based at least in part on a determination that the consumption rate is smaller than the default consumption rate, the delivery method being slower than the default delivery method and associated with a different type of delivery resources than the default delivery method; and
requesting the delivery of the replacement amount of the item based at least in part on the delivery method.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the delivery method comprises:
selecting an accelerated delivery method relative to the default delivery method based at least in part on a determination of an increase in the consumption rate.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the delivery method comprises:
determining a slope of the consumption rate; and
selecting the delivery method as a decelerated delivery method relative to the default delivery method based at least in part on a determination that the slope indicates a decrease in the consumption of the amount of the item.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the delivery method comprises:
determining a slope of the consumption rate based at least in part on the sensor data, wherein the delivery method is selected based at least in part on the slope;
determining an update to the slope of the consumption rate based at least in part on updated sensor data; and
selecting a second delivery method based at least in part on a determination that the update to the slope indicates a change to the consumption of the amount of the item.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the device is an automatic replenishment device (ARD) located at a user location, and wherein the plurality of available delivery methods are associated with the user location.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the profile identifies the default delivery method as the delivery method.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:
upon determining that the amount of the item stored by the device is less than a threshold amount, comparing the consumption rate to an expected consumption rate, wherein the delivery method is based at least in part on a difference between the consumption rate and the expected consumption rate.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:
updating the profile with an indication of the delivery method; and
sending a notification about an initiation of the delivery to a user device associated with the profile.

13. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, upon execution on a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at a data collection frequency, sensor data from a device that stores an amount of an item and that comprises a sensor, the sensor data generated by the sensor and indicating the amount of the item, the sensor comprising at least one a time of flight sensor or a weight sensor, the data collection frequency being based at least in part on a consumption rate of the item and a power source of the device;
maintaining, in a profile associated with a user, the consumption rate of the item based at least in part on the sensor data, the consump

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Lefkow Dave Jonathan
• Heyworth Samuel Stevens
• Osias Daniel
• Virani Amirali
• Richards Hannah Mcclellan

Classifications

• G06Q10/083 Primary

  Shipping · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

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