Estimating available volumes using imaging data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9704044-B1
Application number	US-201615269757-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 19, 2016
Priority date	May 30, 2014
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

Imaging data regarding an interior portion of a storage vessel may be obtained from an imaging device (e.g., a digital camera or depth sensor) and interpreted in order to identify an available volume within the storage vessel. Where the imaging data includes an image of an interior of the storage vessel, an area of one or more contiguous spaces of a rear face of the storage vessel may be identified from the image and multiplied by a depth of the storage vessel in order to estimate the available volume. Where the imaging data includes a depth profile of the interior, the depth profile may be processed in order to estimate the available volume. Once an available volume has been estimated, the capacity of the available volume to accommodate one or more additional items may be determined, and information regarding the capacity may be provided to a user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
capturing at least a first image of a storage facility by a wearable imaging device worn by a user, wherein the storage facility comprises a plurality of storage vessels;
recognizing at least one visible portion of a rear face of a first storage vessel in the first image by at least one processor, wherein the first storage vessel is one of the plurality of storage vessels;
determining a depth of the first storage vessel by the at least one processor;
estimating an area of the at least one visible portion of the rear face of the first storage vessel by the at least one processor;
estimating an available volume of the first storage vessel based at least in part on the area of the at least one visible portion of the rear face of the first storage vessel and the depth of the first storage vessel by the at least one processor; and
causing a display of information regarding the estimated available volume on at least one wearable display device worn by the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
recognizing at least one of a plurality of bar codes provided on at least one surface of the storage facility in the first image by the at least one processor, wherein each of the bar codes is associated with one of the storage vessels;
interpreting at least some of the plurality of bar codes by the at least one processor; and
in response to interpreting at least some of the plurality of bar codes,
selecting one of the storage vessels by the at least one computer processor,

wherein the first storage vessel is the selected one of the storage vessels.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an available capacity of the first storage vessel based at least in part on the estimated available volume by the at least one computer processor,
wherein the information regarding the estimated available volume comprises at least one of:
a first indication of an available capacity of the first storage vessel; or
a second indication of the available capacity of the first storage vessel as at least one of a fraction, a ratio or a percentage of a total capacity of the first storage vessel.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
capturing at least a second image of a portion of an item by the wearable imaging device;
recognizing a bar code on an external surface of the item by the at least one computer processor;
determining at least of a length, a width, a depth or a volume of the item based at least in part on the recognized bar code by the at least one computer processor; and
determining whether the item may be accommodated in the first storage vessel based at least in part on the estimated available volume and the at least one of the length, the width, the depth or the volume of the item by the at least one computer processor,
wherein the information regarding the estimated available volume comprises at least one of:
a first indication that the item may be accommodated in the estimated available volume of the first storage vessel; or
a second indication that the item may not be accommodated in the estimated available volume of the first storage vessel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the area of the at least one visible portion of the rear face of the first storage vessel comprises:
determining an effective height of the at least one visible portion of the rear face of the first storage vessel based at least in part on the first image by the at least one processor;
determining a width of the at least one visible portion of the rear face of the first storage vessel based at least in part on the first image by the at least one processor, wherein the effective area excludes at least some of the at least one visible portion of the image corresponding to the rear face of the storage vessel,
wherein estimating the available volume of the storage vessel comprises:
calculating a product of the effective height, the width and the depth by the at least one processor.

6. A method comprising:
capturing, by a wearable imaging device, a first image of at least a portion of a defined space;
recognizing, by at least one computer processor, a portion of the first image corresponding to a rear face of the defined space;
identifying, by the at least one computer processor, a depth of the defined space;
estimating, by the at least one computer processor, an available volume of the defined space based at least in part on the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space and the depth of the defined space; and
causing, by the at least one computer processor, a display of information regarding the estimated available volume of the defined space on a wearable eye-level display.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
estimating, by the at least one computer processor, at least one of an effective height or an effective width of the rear face of the defined space based at least in part on the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space; and
calculating, by the at least one computer processor, an effective area of the rear face of the defined space based at least in part on at least one of the effective height or the effective width,
wherein estimating the available volume of the defined space comprises:
multiplying the effective area of the rear face of the defined space by the depth of the defined space.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein recognizing the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space comprises:
determining, by the at least one computer processor, a color of the rear face; and
analyzing, by the at least one computer processor, the first image to identify pixels having the color of the rear face within the first image,
wherein the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space is recognized based at least in part on the pixels having the color of the rear face within the first image.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein estimating the available volume of the defined space comprises:
extrapolating the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space based at least in part on the depth of the defined space.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein recognizing the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space comprises:
determining a number of pixels within the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space; and
determining a pixel size of at least one of the pixels within the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space, and
wherein estimating the available volume of the defined space based at least in part on the portion of the first image corresponding to the rear face of the defined space and the depth of the defined space comprises:
estimating an area of the rear face of the defined space based at least in part on the number of pixels and the pixel size; and
multiplying the estimated area of the rear face of the defined space by the depth of the defined space.

11. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one computer processor, a volume of the defined space; and
calculating, by the at least one computer processor, at least one of a fraction, a ratio or a percentage of the estimated available volume of the defined space to the volume of the defined space,
wherein the information regarding the estimated available volume comprises the at least one of the fraction, the ratio or the percentage.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying, by the at least one computer process

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Curlander James Christopher
• Graybill Jules Cook
• Madan Udit
• Tappen Marshall Friend
• Bundy Michael Ellsworth
• Glick David Daniel

Classifications

• G06Q10/08 Primary

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title

• G01B11/22

  for measuring depth · CPC title

• G06K7/10861

  sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels (postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48) · CPC title

• G06T7/408

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T7/602

  Physics · mapped topic