Clustering of items with heterogeneous data points

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12430608-B2
Application number	US-202217963903-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2022
Priority date	Oct 11, 2022
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to updating inventory of products. In some embodiments, there is provided a system for updating inventory of products including a database; at least one image capture device; and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to: process an image by: detecting units of one or more products in the image; grouping each detected unit into one or more clusters based on at least one of textual similarities, visual similarities, geometrical similarities, or relative spatial distance; detecting a product identifier for each cluster; identifying a product corresponding to the detected product identifier of each cluster; and counting the detected units associated with each cluster. The control circuit is configured to cause an update to the inventory of products in the database based on the counted detected units of each cluster.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an electronic database configured to store data corresponding to an inventory of products in a product storage facility;
an autonomous floor cleaner or sweeper configured to clean or maintain the product storage facility; and
at least one image capture device configured to capture images of an area having one or more products at the product storage facility; and
a control circuit coupled to the at least one image capture device, the at least one image capture device and the control circuit being incorporated into the autonomous floor cleaner or sweeper, wherein the control circuit is configured to perform the following operations:
receive one of the images captured by the at least one image capture device;
detecting units of a product in the received image;
grouping the detected units of the product into a cluster of detected units based on at least one of textual similarities, visual similarities, geometrical similarities, or relative spatial distance;
determining that multiple product identifiers are associated with the cluster of detected units;
determining that a specific product identifier, within the multiple product identifiers, is associated with more detected units within the cluster of detected units than other product identifiers within the multiple product identifiers; and
responsive to determining that the specific product identifier is associated with more of the detected units than the other product identifiers, generating an alert to request that an employee verify that the specific product identifier accurately identifies the cluster of detected units.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the area comprises a rack, a pallet, and a shelving unit.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the specific product identifier comprises a barcode and a QR code.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the product storage facility comprises a product distribution center, a fulfillment center, and a retail store.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a trained machine learning model is used to group the detected units of the product into the cluster of detected units.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to receive, from the employee, confirmation that the specific product identifier accurately identifies the cluster of detected units, and
wherein the system further includes a trained machine learning model configured to increase, based on the confirmation, a confidence value in predicting that the product is associated with the specific product identifier, and wherein the trained machine learning model is trained to determine which product identifiers are associated with units detected in images captured by the image capture device.

7. A method comprising:
maintaining an electronic database storing data corresponding to an inventory of products in a product storage facility;
capturing, using at least one image capture device, images of an area having one or more products at the product storage facility;
receiving, by a control circuit, one of the images from the at least one image capture device, the at least one image capture device and the control circuit being incorporated into an autonomous floor cleaner or sweeper configured to clean or maintain a product storage facility;
detecting, by the control circuit, units of a product in the received image;
grouping, by the control circuit, the detected units of the product into a cluster of detected units based on at least one of textual similarities, visual similarities, geometrical similarities, or relative spatial distance;
determining that multiple product identifiers are associated with the cluster of detected units;
determining that a specific product identifier, within the multiple product identifiers, is associated with more detected units within the cluster of detected units than other product identifiers within the multiple product identifiers; and
responsive to determining that the specific product identifier is associated with more of the detected units than the other product identifiers, generating an alert to request that an employee verify that the specific product identifier accurately identifies the cluster of detected units.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the area comprises a rack, a pallet, and a shelving unit.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the specific product identifier comprises a barcode and a QR code.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the product storage facility comprises a product distribution center, a fulfillment center, and a retail store.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein a trained machine learning model is used to group the detected units of the product into the cluster of detected units.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, from the employee, confirmation that the specific product identifier accurately identifies the cluster of detected units; and
increasing, by a trained machine learning model based on the confirmation, a confidence value in predicting that the product is associated with the specific product identifier, wherein the trained machine learning model is trained to determine which product identifiers are associated with units detected in images captured by the image capture device.

13. A computer program product storing programming instructions that, upon execution by processor(s) of an inventory management system, cause the inventory management system to perform the following operations:
maintaining an electronic database storing data corresponding to an inventory of products in a product storage facility;
capturing, using at least one image capture device, images of an area having one or more products at the product storage facility;
receiving, by a control circuit, one of the images from the at least one image capture device, the at least one image capture device and the control circuit being incorporated into an autonomous floor cleaner or sweeper configured to clean or maintain a product storage facility;
detecting, by the control circuit, units of a product in the received image;
grouping, by the control circuit, the detected units of the product into a cluster of detected units based on at least one of textual similarities, visual similarities, geometrical similarities, or relative spatial distance;
determining that multiple product identifiers are associated with the cluster of detected units;
determining that a specific product identifier, within the multiple product identifiers, is associated with more detected units within the cluster of detected units than other product identifiers within the multiple product identifiers; and
responsive to determining that the specific product identifier is associated with more of the detected units than the other product identifiers, generating an alert to request that an employee verify that the specific product identifier accurately identifies the cluster of detected units.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the area comprises a rack, a pallet, and a shelving unit.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the specific product identifier comprises a barcode and a QR code.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the product storage facility comprises a product distribution center, a fulfillment center, and a retail store.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein a trained machine learning model is used to group the detected units of the product into the cluster of detected units.

18. The computer program product of claim

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Balusu Raghava
• Jade Avinash M
• Zhang Lingfeng
• Muktevi Srinivas
• Jhunjhunwala Amit

Classifications

• G06F16/55 Primary

  Clustering; Classification · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

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

• G06Q10/08772

  Inventory counting methods · CPC title