Method and apparatus for object status detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11978011-B2
Application number	US-201816610041-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 1, 2018
Priority date	May 1, 2017
Publication date	May 7, 2024
Grant date	May 7, 2024

Abstract

A method of object status detection for objects supported by a shelf, from shelf image data, includes: obtaining a plurality of images of a shelf, each image including an indication of a gap on the shelf between the objects; registering the images to a common frame of reference; identifying a subset of the gaps having overlapping locations in the common frame of reference; generating a consolidated gap indication from the subset; obtaining reference data including (i) identifiers for the objects and (ii) prescribed locations for the objects within the common frame of reference; based on a comparison of the consolidated gap indication with the reference data, selecting a target object identifier from the reference data; and generating and presenting a status notification for the target product identifier.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method by an imaging controller of object status detection for objects supported by a shelf, from shelf image data, the method comprising:
obtaining, at an image pre-processor of the imaging controller a plurality of images of a shelf, each image including an indication of a gap on the shelf between the objects;
registering, by the image pre-processor, the images to a common frame of reference;
identifying, by the image pre-processor, a subset of the gaps having overlapping locations in the common frame of reference;
generating, by the image pre-processor, an indication from the subset of a consolidated gap between the objects;
obtaining, by a comparator of the imaging controller, reference data including (i) identifiers for the objects and (ii) prescribed locations for the objects within the common frame of reference;
based on a comparison of the consolidated gap indication with the reference data, selecting, by the comparator, a target object identifier from the reference data; and
generating and presenting, by a notifier of the imaging controller, a status notification for the target product identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises selecting a target object identifier having a prescribed location that overlaps the location of the consolidated gap indication.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining a degree of coverage of the prescribed location of the target object identifier by the consolidated gap indication.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
determining whether the degree of coverage exceeds an upper threshold; and
wherein when the degree of coverage exceeds the upper threshold, generating the status notification comprises generating an out-of-stock notification.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
when the degree of coverage does not exceed the upper threshold, determining whether the degree of coverage exceeds a lower threshold; and
wherein when the degree of coverage exceeds the lower threshold, generating the status notification comprises generating a low-stock notification.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the degree of coverage comprises:
retrieving dimensions and a facing number corresponding to the target object identifier, and determining a width of the prescribed location based on the dimensions and the facing number; and
determining a proportion of the width covered by a width of the consolidated gap indication.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of images each comprise a binary gap mask generated from an image of the shelf captured by a mobile automation apparatus.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining depth measurements corresponding to the images;
registering the depth measurements to the common frame of reference; and
validating the consolidated gap indication based on the depth measurements.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining, based on the validation, that the consolidated gap indication is incorrect; and
responsive to the determining, generating the status notification as a plug notification.

Assignees

• Symbol Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Fu Bo
• Zhang Yan
• Cheng Yan-Ming
• Varley Jordan K
• Beach Robert E
• Segall Iaacov Coby
• Rzeszutek Richard Jeffrey
• Ramputi Michael

Classifications

• G06Q10/087 Primary

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

• G06Q20/203

  Inventory monitoring · CPC title

• G06T7/55

  from multiple images · CPC title

• G06T7/74

  involving reference images or patches · CPC title

• G06V20/36

  Indoor scenes · CPC title