Determining stowability based on item-size categories

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9242798-B2
Application number	US-201414473051-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2014
Priority date	Jun 20, 2012
Publication date	Jan 26, 2016
Grant date	Jan 26, 2016

Abstract

Methods, systems and apparatus for determining stowability based on item-size categories are described. Embodiments may select a storage module for a stow operation based on accessing stowability information. Stowability information, in various embodiments may include stowability information for each storage module in a materials handling system. Stowability information may indicate a capacity to hold additional items in a storage module. The capacity may be determined according an item-size category descriptor, describing the quantity of items in each category of a storage module, and a storage module capacity module characterizing item descriptors of fully-stowed storage modules. In some embodiments the storage module capacity model is a function fitted to data points representing the values of item-size descriptors of fully-stowed storage modules. Embodiments may update the stowability information for a storage module in response to the removal of an item from the storage module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
performing, by one or more computing devices:
identifying an item-size category for each of a plurality of items in a materials handling facility, wherein said item-size category for each of the plurality of items is determined from among a plurality of different item-size categories according to size information for the item;
determining an item-size category descriptor for each of a plurality of storage modules, wherein the plurality of storage modules are fully-stowed storage modules, wherein the item-size category descriptor includes a quantity value for each different item-size category, and each quantity value indicates a total quantity of items stored in the fully-stowed storage module categorized in a respective one of the different item-size categories; and

generating a storage module capacity model that characterizes item-size category descriptors for fully-stowed storage modules.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for each of multiple storage modules at a materials handling facility, tracking a capacity for the storage module to hold additional items according to the generated storage module capacity model, wherein said tracking comprises updating the capacity in response to an item being picked from the storage module.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising selecting a storage module for a stow operation from among the multiple storage modules according to the capacities of the plurality of storage modules to hold additional items.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising directing performance of the stow operation for stowing items received at the materials handling facility into the selected storage module.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining an updated capacity for the selected storage module upon completion of the stow operation.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said generating the storage module capacity model comprises:
mapping each item-size category descriptor as data points in an n-dimensional space, wherein each dimension of the n-dimensional space corresponds to a respective one of the different item-size categories, and each quantity value of the item-size category descriptor maps to a different dimension on the n-dimensional space;
fitting a function to the data points in the n-dimensional space to describe the determined item-size category descriptors for the plurality of storage modules.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining a capacity for a storage module to hold additional items according to the generated storage module capacity model, comprising:
calculating a distance from an item-size descriptor of the storage module to the function for the storage module capacity model, wherein the distance provides a measure of the capacity of the storage module to hold additional items.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of storage modules comprises a plurality of different storage module types, the method further comprising generating a different storage module capacity model for each different storage module type.

9. A system, comprising:
a plurality of storage modules at a material handling facility; and
a control system, implemented by one or more computers, configured to:
identify an item-size category for each of a plurality of items in the materials handling facility, wherein said item-size category for each of the plurality of items is determined from among a plurality of different item-size categories according to size information for the item;
determine an item-size category descriptor for each of the plurality of storage modules, wherein the plurality of storage modules are fully-stowed storage modules, wherein the item-size category descriptor includes a quantity value for each different item-size category, and each quantity value indicates a total quantity of items stored in the fully-stowed storage module categorized in a respective one of the different item-size categories; and
generate a storage module capacity model that characterizes item-size category descriptors for fully-stowed storage modules.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
for each of the multiple storage modules at the materials handling facility, track a capacity for the storage module to hold additional items according to the generated storage module capacity model, wherein said track a capacity comprises updating the capacity in response to an item being picked from the storage module.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
select a storage module for a stow operation from among the multiple storage modules according to the capacities of the plurality of storage modules to hold additional items.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
direct performance of the stow operation for stowing items received at the materials handling facility into the selected storage module; and
determine an updated capacity for the selected storage module upon completion of the stow operation.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein to generate the storage module capacity module, the control system is further configured to:
map each item-size category descriptor as data points in an n-dimensional space, wherein each dimension of the n-dimensional space corresponds to a respective one of the different item-size categories, and each quantity value of the item-size category descriptor maps to a different dimension on the n-dimensional space; and
fit a function to the data points in the n-dimensional space to describe the determined item-size category descriptors for the plurality of storage modules.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine a capacity for a storage module of the plurality of storage modules to hold additional items according to the generated storage module capacity module, wherein to determine a capacity for a storage module to hold additional items according to the generated storage module capacity module, the control system is further configured to:
calculate a distance from an item-size descriptor of the storage module to the function for the storage module capacity model, wherein the distance provides a measure of the capacity of the storage module to hold additional items.

15. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions computer-executable to implement a control system configured to:
identify an item-size category for each of a plurality of items in a materials handling facility, wherein said item-size category for each of the plurality of items is determined from among a plurality of different item-size categories according to size information for the item;
determine an item-size category descriptor for each of a plurality of storage modules, wherein the plurality of storage modules are fully-stowed storage modules, wherein the item-size category descriptor includes a quantity value for each different item-size category, and each quantity value indicates a total quantity of items stored in the fully-stowed storage module categorized in a respective one of the different item-size categories; and
generate a storage module capacity model that characterizes item-size category descriptors for fully-stowed storage modules.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
for each of the multiple storage modules at the materials handling facility, track a capacity for the stor

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Guan Danny

Classifications

• B65G1/1371 Primary

  with data records · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

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