CN114819797A - Image acquisition device and information acquisition system for inventory management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an image acquisition device and an information acquisition system for an inventory management system, wherein the image acquisition device acquires first action information, wherein the first action information comprises a first image, and the first image is shot by at least one image acquisition device before an access mechanism enters at least one inventory position of a shelf; wherein the inventory management system determines, based on the first image, an absolute position of at least one of the access mechanisms within an area of a shelf and a relative position of the access mechanism with respect to at least one of the shelves carrying at least one item. The image acquisition device acts on the information acquisition system and indicates the access mechanism to put the current commodity back to the correct position on the shelf through the indicating mark on the shelf, and the indicating mark is displayed only under the condition that the indicating mark is positioned in the visual range of the access mechanism for picking up the current commodity.

Description

Image acquisition device and information acquisition system for inventory management system

Division description

The original basis of this divisional application is the patent application with the application number of 201810967161.6, the application date is August 23, 2018, and the invention title is "an intelligent inventory management system based on the change of inventory position", which requires the application number of 2018101051583 The priority date of the patent application is February 1, 2018.

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of inventory management, in particular to an image acquisition device and an information acquisition system for an inventory management system.

Background technique

With the gradual rise of e-commerce, how to synchronize and accurately realize inventory update has become a hot issue. Especially for unmanaged warehouses, manual inventory counts are almost impossible tasks. At present, most enterprises have a low level of informatization in inventory management, and still use the traditional "manual + barcode" method. This method has many shortcomings, such as low work efficiency, poor labor cost information transmission, and poor information timeliness. In fact, inventory has real-time dynamics, that is, changes anytime and anywhere, so inventory management should also be real-time dynamic management. Therefore, inventory management requires a dynamic and real-time management system to monitor inventory.

An inventory management and real-time display system disclosed in Publication No. 107180325A includes a warehouse module for storing products, a product distribution center module, a data cloud module and a mobile device APP module. The data cloud module is used to store the consumption of users in the warehouse module. The information of behavior and consumption data and the warehouse module information stored in the data cloud module are displayed in the mobile device APP module. The warehouse module has different types of product inventory in different time periods and different locations. The product inventory of the warehouse module is displayed through the mobile device APP. The module displays and forecasts stock availability through the product distribution center module. The system tracks the product information of the warehouse module according to the data displayed on the APP module of the mobile device at all times, and can prepare the expected inventory of the warehouse module to effectively prevent shortages or shortages. The technical solution only updates the inventory during the transaction process, and the timeliness is insufficient, and during shopping, the products may leave the shelf area but not be traded, and the technical solution cannot monitor the monitoring of such products.

A method and an inventory system for real-time inventory management disclosed by publication number CN108154322A can reduce the economic losses brought to e-commerce websites due to system failures. The method for real-time inventory management includes: a platform inventory system (GAIA) receives an order message sent by an inventory information service system (CIS), where the order message at least includes: commodity code and commodity quantity information; inventory managed by the platform inventory system , temporarily lock the quantity of goods corresponding to the order message; according to the received payment message associated with the order message, detect whether the payment is completed, and if so, temporarily lock the quantity of goods corresponding to the order message, Converted to a formal lock. The present invention is suitable for inventory management. This technical solution has the same technical problem as the publication number 107180325A, that is, it cannot monitor the commodities in the inventory that are not traded but whose inventory positions have changed.

CN107077659A provides an intelligent inventory management system, server, method, terminal and program product for reducing the complexity of inventory management; it includes: an intelligent machine terminal shoots commodities, and sends the captured images to an intelligent inventory management server; The intelligent inventory management server determines the commodities and the inventory in the image according to the image recognition captured by the intelligent machine terminal; and stores the commodities and inventory information identified by the object recognition module into the warehouse. Although it uses object recognition technology to reduce the workload of manual input, improve the accuracy of commodity information storage, and reduce the complexity of inventory management, it cannot accurately evaluate inventory changes in real time. Unless there is human intervention in counting and counting, the inventory count is still chaotic.

CN104361039A provides an auxiliary method for an embedded smart refrigerator developed based on Qt, which includes the following steps: step 1, displaying an expired reminder preview and message information; step 2, ingredient inventory management, based on data and user operations, viewing current Detailed information of all ingredients in the inventory, and unified management of editing and deletion of ingredient information; categorization management of all ingredients, sorting according to production date, remaining shelf life and expiration date, to view the information of each ingredient; Step 3, expired Reminder, through the statistics of the remaining shelf life of the ingredients information on the inventory, an intuitive information preview is given to the ingredients with a remaining shelf life of less than 5 days, and the expiration date and remaining shelf life of the ingredients are specifically displayed, and displayed and updated in real time; Step 4. Inquiries and recipe recommendations, provide massive recipe data, and provide the production methods of various delicious dishes, and search based on existing ingredients or custom ingredients to obtain specific recipes; based on stock ingredients or current seasonal and healthy nutrition information, Recommend recipes with different tastes and effects; Step 5, shopping list, add existing ingredients or custom ingredient information to the shopping list, perform statistics and management on the ingredients in the shopping list, and provide on the basis of data mining The out-of-stock reminder list provides options for shopping; step 6, ingredient identification and access, to identify and store ingredients. The technical solution cannot count inventory consumption in real time, and cannot effectively manage inventory in kitchens and kitchen warehouses where food is frequently taken.

In addition, in order to accurately manage the kitchen inventory, large hotels and restaurants generally have a special person to manage the inventory (that is, the inventory manager). Relevant food will be provided to relevant personnel according to the order (feeding information). Thereafter, the correspondence between the order and the food item is checked manually by an inventory manager. This method is not only inefficient, but because of the extremely large variety of food, there is often a lot of loss.

The Chinese patent document with publication number CN105531715A discloses an inventory update method based on image detection, wherein the update of the inventory and the shopping list are determined by comparing the images before and after picking up the goods. The problem with this approach is that once the user picks up the item and returns it to an inappropriate location, the shopping list and inventory updates are inaccurate. In addition, when the user makes repeated comparisons in areas with similar types and similar placement positions, it will bring challenges to taking pictures and calculations. Shopping lists and inventory updates often go awry. It omits the settlement link, but it also raises other problems. Therefore, there is room for improvement in this automated shopping method.

Chinese patent document with publication number CN104637198A discloses an intelligent settlement shopping cart system with autonomous tracking function, which consists of MCU microcontroller, controllable DC motor, pressure weighing sensor, RFID reader, camera, wireless transceiver, touch The display screen, barcode scanner, and UnionPay card swiping device constitute two subsystems of autonomous tracking and self-service settlement. It is characterized in that: MCU microcontroller 1 controls the driving force of the controllable DC motor through the weight of the vehicle body sensed by the pressure load sensor, Move the shopping cart at an appropriate speed; scan the products through the barcode scanner, and the touch screen displays the product information and the total price of the current purchased products in real time. Users can settle by themselves by swiping the card through the UnionPay card swiping device. In this system, the RFID radio frequency card is used as the signal source for shopping cart tracking, and establishes a point-to-point single-line connection with the shopping cart; the camera captures the surrounding environment of the shopping cart at any time, and automatically avoids obstacles and selects the tracking path through the path recognition algorithm. The driving wheel driven by the motor can be deflected left and right, and the steering of the driving wheel is controlled by the MCU microcontroller according to the path information provided by the path recognition algorithm. This technical solution can only solve the technical problem of commodity settlement.

The Chinese patent document with the announcement number CN202904765U provides a shopping mall self-service smart shopping cart, which includes a frame, a wheel installed under the frame, a basket installed above the frame, and a push rod, and the lower end of the push rod is connected to the outside of the bottom of the basket. On the side, the angle between them is 40-60 degrees. A touch screen is installed between the upper end of the basket and the push rod. The left side of the touch screen is installed with a scanner, the right side of the touch screen is installed with a card slot, and the upper end of the basket is installed with an automatic opening and closing sensor. Door. The beneficial effect is that the automatic opening and closing induction door is installed on the upper end of the basket, and the sensor installed on the automatic opening and closing induction door can sense the put-in commodities, so as to avoid the trouble of wrong or over-buying during the shopping process. What the technical solution still monitors is the settlement problem of commodities in the shopping process.

Chinese Patent Document Publication No. CN105531715A discloses a system for tracking the removal or placement of items at inventory locations within a material handling facility. In some cases, a user may remove an item from an inventory location, and the inventory management system may detect the removal and update a user item inventory associated with the user to include an item identification representing the removed item symbol. Likewise, if a user places an item into an inventory location, the inventory management system may detect the placement and update the user's inventory to remove the item identifier representing the placed item. However, this invention utilizes a fixed inventory location to realize the analysis of image information, which cannot satisfy the dynamic change of items for image analysis. At the same time, its image analysis method is single, and it does not have the characteristics of dynamic change correlation of items and classification based on relative position, and cannot prompt for misplaced items.

The Chinese patent document with publication number CN105580040A discloses a sales promotion system, a sales promotion method, a non-transitory computer readable medium and a shelf system. The sales promotion system is provided with: an image information acquisition unit that acquires input image information in which an image of a presentation area of a product is presented to a customer; a tracking unit that tracks customer actions on the product based on the input image information; and a promotion information output unit that provides information to the customer Promotion information related to the product corresponding to the tracked customer action is output. As a result, it can be promoted more effectively. However, this invention does not have the feature of dynamically dividing the area that needs to be image analysis.

The Chinese patent document with publication number CN106934692A discloses an article information processing system, method and device. In the article information processing system, the panel system includes: a panel for carrying articles; a state collection device for collecting the state of the articles on the panel data; the first positioning device is used to collect the position data of the items on the panel; the shelf system includes: the second positioning device is used to collect the position data of the customer marker; the customer system includes: the customer marker; the mobile device is used for binding Determine customer markers, receive a list of items for customers to operate and settle; the inventory management system is used to: match the position data of the items on the panel with the position data of the customer markers, and determine the items purchased by the customer according to the matching results and the item status data on the panel Type and quantity, generate a list of items available to mobile devices. The invention can realize the capture and transmission of real-time dynamic data of items, realize the close association between items and customer behavior, and enable customers to check out freely anytime and anywhere. However, this invention cannot achieve a close relationship between dynamically changing items and changing access mechanisms, and cannot analyze whether the items are returned to the correct position on the shelf.

The Chinese patent document with publication number CN106672042A discloses a smart shopping cart, which includes a cart body with a shopping basket on it, wherein two planes are set in sequence below the frame mouth of the shopping basket as the H1 plane and the H3 plane. Placed at the bottom of the shopping basket below the H3 plane, the scanning port of the barcode scanner of the commodity overlaps with the H1 plane, and the monitoring device is placed above the H1 plane and monitors the moving objects on the H1 plane and the space above it; the components on the shopping cart are as follows State judgment shopping process: A0 state; A1 state; A2 state; A3 state; A4 state; A5 state. Each part on the shopping cart judges the return process according to the following states: B0 state; B1 state; B2 state; B3 state; B4 state; B5 state. However, this invention can only determine whether the return is timely, and cannot determine whether the returned goods have been put back into the correct inventory position.

By studying the above technical solutions, even those skilled in the art cannot obtain an inventory management system that can dynamically and real-time monitor the commodities that have been moved in the inventory area.

To sum up, the present invention relates to an image acquisition device and an information acquisition system for an inventory management system, which can classify and divide the image information based on the relative position between dynamically changing items and changing access mechanisms, and at the same time Features that prompt the depository mechanism to return the item to the correct inventory location.

In addition, on the one hand, there are differences in the understanding of those skilled in the art; on the other hand, because the inventor has studied a large number of documents and patents when making the present invention, but the space limit does not list all the details and contents in detail, but this is by no means The present invention does not possess the features of the prior art, on the contrary, the present invention already possesses all the features of the prior art, and the applicant reserves the right to add relevant prior art to the background art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforementioned inherent problems of traditional large warehouse supermarkets and other problems of unmanned supermarkets, the present invention is devoted to providing an inventory management system and method, which can be used in an inventory unmanned supermarket. In the present invention, it is not absolutely necessary to avoid the use of RFID tags, but considering the cost of RFID tags, the present invention adopts more general image recognition methods. However, the present invention does not exclude RFID. For access mechanisms represented by intelligent handling equipment, both RFID and graphic two-dimensional codes are preferred ways of identifying the identity of the access equipment. This is also because the vast majority of warehouse supermarkets are currently equipped with video surveillance management systems, and the accuracy of the surveillance systems is getting better and better, reaching millimeter-level image accuracy, and this low-cost image recognition solution is still developing rapidly.

An intelligent inventory management system based on changes in inventory positions disclosed in the present invention at least includes: an access mechanism for storing and/or taking out commodities; an information collection system for collecting action information and/or action information of the access mechanism location information; a computing system for analyzing the motion information and/or the location information; the computing system and the information collection system are connected through a communication system; the information collection system can trigger storage in the access mechanism and/or when taking out the commodity, obtain the action information and/or position information of the access mechanism; the computing system determines the state of the commodity held by the access mechanism based on the action information and/or the position information , identifying the location information of the access mechanism in response to the state in which the merchandise is held by the access mechanism, and thereby judging the correspondence between the merchandise and the change in the stock position, thereby generating the Inventory information for the described product.

According to a preferred embodiment, the information collection system can collect and acquire the first action information and/or the first action information of the access mechanism when the access mechanism triggers the first action of storing and/or taking out the commodity. a location information, and transmitted by the communication unit to the computing system; the computing system forms the first action information and/or the first location information into the first information of the commodity in an associated form; the The information collection system can collect the second action information and/or the second position information of the access mechanism when the access mechanism triggers the second action of storing and/or taking out the commodity that is closest to the first action , and transmitted by the communication unit to the computing system; the computing system forms the second action information and/or the second location information into the second information of the commodity in an associated form; the computing system will Based on the first information and the second information, the state of the commodity held by the corresponding access mechanism is determined, and the corresponding relationship between the commodity and the change of the inventory position is judged accordingly, so as to generate the inventory information of the commodity .

According to a preferred embodiment, the first motion information and/or the second motion information are acquired by at least one image acquisition device in the information acquisition system; the first position information and/or the second position information Information is acquired by at least one location acquisition device in the information acquisition system.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one image acquisition device is configured to acquire the first action when the monitor monitoring the commodity finds that the access mechanism triggers the storage and/or retrieval of the commodity information and/or second action information; the at least one location acquisition device is configured to: the monitor monitoring the commodity finds that the access mechanism triggers the deposit and/or retrieval of the commodity When the commodity is purchased, the first location information and/or the second location information is acquired.

According to a preferred embodiment, the first action information includes a first image and a second image, wherein the second image is obtained by at least one image capture device at at least one inventory location of the access mechanism entering the shelf taken before; the third image was taken by the at least one image capture device after the access mechanism was removed from at least one inventory location of the shelf; the computing system is based on the first image and the The second image is used to determine the state of the commodity held by the access mechanism, and the position information of the access mechanism is identified in response to the state of the commodity held by the access mechanism, and thereby the commodity is determined to be related to the commodity. The corresponding relationship between the changes in the inventory position is generated, thereby generating inventory information of the commodity.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system includes an information correction module, and the correction module is configured to: modify the motion information and/or position information based on a displacement curve and time information, wherein the displacement curve is determined by the At least one of the location acquisition devices is acquired in the form of tracking the access mechanism; the time information is acquired by at least one time collector in the information acquisition system when the access mechanism triggers the deposit and/or retrieval of the merchandise; Obtain;

According to a preferred embodiment, the system further includes at least one image acquisition device and at least one position acquisition device disposed in the goods temporary storage unit, for detecting the movement of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit, and generating third action information and third position information, wherein the computing system confirms the change of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit and the inventory position based on the third information action and the third position information of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit The third action information is obtained before the first action information and the second action information; the third position information is obtained before the first position information and the second position information.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system further includes the at least one image acquisition device disposed in the access channel of the access mechanism, used to acquire identification marks used for payment and/or registration, and to generate an original image of the commodity. information, the collection of the original information is obtained before the action information and the location information.

According to a preferred embodiment, starting from an initial time point when the absolute position is determined based on the first image, the goods escrow unit sets an introduction timing period in response to the state of the goods held by the access mechanism, and after the After a specific introduction timing period, if at least one of the image capturing devices fails to capture the action of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit, the goods temporary storage unit sends a relevant message to the access mechanism holding the goods. Prompts of commodity attributes, wherein the prompts may be in the form of electronic signals, voices, images or videos.

According to a preferred embodiment, at least one of the image capturing devices is used to indicate in the system to put the current commodity back on the shelf by means of an indicator mark on the shelf, and only when the indicator mark is located to pick up The indication mark is displayed only when the present product is within the visual range of the access mechanism.

In the present invention, the absolute position refers to the position in the coordinate system established for the supermarket or warehouse to which the inventory management system is applied. The location of the counter. The relative position refers to the relative position between the shelves in the supermarket, and can also be the relative position between the access mechanism or the personnel and the shelves.

Considering that in most cases, personnel or access mechanisms can only operate the nearby shelves that they can access (typically, shelves within a range of about 2 meters). In the present invention, the relative position and the absolute position are used to classify and analyze the inventory position change and personnel/access mechanism, so that the supermarket can dynamically divide the area that needs to be analyzed and calculated according to the "change occurred" anytime and anywhere, and can accurately Correlate the shelves with the people or storage facilities that they are currently interacting with, solving the difficulties when a large number of dynamic people and dynamic storage facilities are shopping or stocking at the same time. In other words, through the present invention, according to the location, the inventory change is firstly corresponding to the personnel or the access mechanism, which has a decisive effect on the real-time performance of the inventory management of the large supermarket. For supermarkets with tens of thousands of inventory locations, since the "inventory change" is first associated with "absolute position" and "relative position", the calculation amount of image recognition is greatly reduced, which can be used without additional Complete real-time inventory analysis with a large number of computing systems. This also largely avoids the disorder of inventory data.

In this way, it is possible to analyze not only the increase or decrease of commodities at the inventory location, but also whether the corresponding commodity is put back into the correct inventory location on the shelf. Here, the access mechanism can be a person or a machine. For humans, the object of image recognition is a human arm; for machine equipment, the object of image recognition is a manipulator or the like; thus, the present invention can flexibly respond to a supermarket environment where machines and humans coexist.

The present invention provides an inventory management system and method in a warehouse-type supermarket in which personnel and intelligent handling equipment coexist, which at least has the following advantages:

(1) The present invention can not only analyze the increase or decrease of the commodity at the inventory position, but also can analyze whether the corresponding commodity is put back into the correct inventory position on the shelf;

(2) The present invention can confirm the corresponding relationship between the commodity entering the temporary storage unit and the change of the inventory position after the commodity is put into the temporary storage unit, so that the statistics of the change of the inventory position are more accurate. Accurate, improving the practicability of the system;

(3) The present invention can analyze the change of the inventory position which may be caused by the process again when the commodity is removed from the goods temporary storage unit, so that the inventory position can be updated more comprehensively and accurately.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a logical module schematic diagram of the system of the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention.

List of reference signs

10: Image acquisition device 17: Seventh image acquisition device

11: The first image acquisition device 18: The eighth image acquisition device

12: Second image acquisition device 20: Position acquisition device

13: Third image capture device 21: Correct identification

14: Fourth Image Capture Device 22: Position Error Marker

15: Fifth image acquisition device 30: Computing system

16: Sixth Image Capture Device 40: Goods Temporary Storage Unit

Detailed ways

The following detailed description is given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

To facilitate understanding, where possible, the same reference numerals have been used to refer to similar elements that are common to the various figures.

Example 1

The present invention discloses an inventory management system, and the preferred implementations of other embodiments can be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflicts or contradictions.

The system includes an access mechanism 10 for depositing and/or withdrawing merchandise. The information collection system 20 is used for collecting movement information and/or position information of the access mechanism. Computing system 30 for analyzing motion information and/or location information. The computing system and the information collection system are connected through a communication system. The information collection system 20 can acquire the action information and/or the location information of the access mechanism 10 when the access mechanism 10 triggers the action of storing and/or taking out the commodity. The computing system 30 determines the state of the merchandise held by the access mechanism 10 based on the motion information and/or the location information, identifies the location information of the access mechanism in response to the state of the merchandise held by the access mechanism 10, and thereby determines the merchandise and inventory locations The corresponding relationship between the changes, thereby generating the inventory information of the commodity. The invention can not only analyze the increase or decrease of commodities at the inventory position, but also can correlately analyze whether the corresponding commodities are put back into the correct inventory position on the shelf or the specific position changes after the commodities are moved out, which is convenient for inventory management.

For example, the action information is video information of the access mechanism 10 for a period of time (eg, 3 s) when the deposit and/or withdrawal of the commodity is triggered and/or image information at the moment when the deposit and/or withdrawal of the commodity is triggered. The location information is the location coordinates of the access mechanism 10 when the deposit and/or retrieval of the merchandise is triggered. The location coordinates can be global absolute coordinates (relative to the coordinate origin, the coordinate origin is located at a certain point in the entire warehouse, such as the location of the management system terminal), or local absolute coordinates (relative to the coordinate origin, the coordinate origin is a certain point in the warehouse unit , such as the first location of the first shelf), or the relative coordinates between the two locations. Preferably, the position coordinates are three-dimensional coordinates, ie length, width and height are all measured.

Preferably, the information collection system 20 can collect and acquire the first action information and/or the first position information of the access mechanism 10 when the access mechanism 10 triggers the first action of storing and/or taking out the commodity, and the communication unit transmitted to computing system 30 . The computing system 30 forms the first motion information and/or the first location information into the first information of the item in an associated form. The information collection system 20 can collect the second action information and/or the second position information of the access mechanism 10 when the access mechanism 10 triggers the second action of depositing and/or taking out the commodity, which is closest to the first action, and the information is collected by the access mechanism 10 . The communication unit transmits to computing system 30 . The computing system 30 forms the second action information and/or the second location information into the second information of the item in an associated form. The computing system 30 will determine the state of the commodity held by the corresponding access mechanism based on the first information and the second information, and thereby determine the correspondence between the commodity and the change of the inventory position, thereby generating inventory information of the commodity. The information collection system 20 acquires action information only when the access mechanism 10 triggers the storage and/or retrieval of commodities, which is beneficial for acquiring action information for analyzing inventory information without the need for real-time monitoring of the access mechanism and reducing the arrangement of the information collection system 20 quantity, rational use of resources, and cost reduction.

Preferably, the first motion information and/or the second motion information are acquired by at least one image acquisition device in the information acquisition system 20 . The first location information and/or the second location information are acquired by at least one location acquisition device in the information acquisition system 20.

Preferably, at least one image capturing device is configured to acquire the first action information and/or the second action information when the monitor monitoring the commodities finds that the access mechanism 10 triggers the storage and/or retrieval of the commodities. At least one location acquisition device is configured to acquire the first location information and/or the second location information when the monitor for monitoring the commodities finds that the access mechanism 10 triggers the storage and/or retrieval of the commodities. For example, the monitors may be infrared light grids and light sensitive sensors. Infrared gratings and photosensitive sensors are provided to monitor when the access mechanism 10 triggers the storage and/or take-out of commodities, so as to avoid repeated shots and false shots which would affect the correctness of inventory information.

Preferably, the first motion information includes a first image and a second image, wherein the first image is captured by at least one image capture device before the access mechanism 10 enters at least one inventory location of the shelf. The second image is captured by the at least one image capture device after the access mechanism 10 is removed from the at least one inventory location of the shelf. The computing system 30 determines the state of the merchandise held by the access mechanism based on the first image and the second image, identifies the location information of the access mechanism in response to the state of the merchandise held by the access mechanism 10, and thereby determines the merchandise and inventory locations The corresponding relationship between the changes, thereby generating the inventory information of the commodity.

Preferably, the system includes an information correction module, and the correction module is configured to: modify motion information and/or position information based on the displacement curve and the time information, wherein the displacement curve is acquired by at least one of the position acquisition devices in the form of a tracking access mechanism . The time information is acquired by at least one time collector in the information collection system when the access mechanism triggers the deposit and/or retrieval of the commodity. The displacement curve records the movement track of the access mechanism, and matches the information collected by the time collector and the image collection device, which can further correct the inventory information and eliminate some interfering inventory information. For example, the access mechanism may erroneously store and/or retrieve merchandise when it is not loaded.

Preferably, the system further includes at least one image acquisition device and at least one position acquisition device disposed in the goods temporary storage unit 40, for detecting the movement of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit 40, and generating third action information and third position information . Preferably, an item identifier representing the item is added to a pick list associated with the at least one access mechanism if and only after the confirmation step. By adding the commodity identifier to the delivery list, the user can perform real-time accounting of the delivery list according to the commodities put into the temporary goods storage unit 40 during the user's visit to the supermarket, and finally, the expenses can be settled directly according to the delivery list, avoiding the need for Moving the products out in turn again and scanning the barcode for settlement results in a long time-consuming problem. Preferably, the goods temporary storage unit 40 is, for example, at least one of a storage box dedicated to an access mechanism, a shopping cart, a shopping basket and a shopping bag. Wherein, the computing system 30 confirms the correspondence between the commodities entering the cargo temporary storage unit 40 and the change of the inventory position based on the third information action and the third position information of the commodities entering the cargo temporary storage unit 40 . The third action information is obtained before the first action information and the second action information. The third position information is obtained before the first position information and the second position information. For example, location information may be acquired by a location sensor.

Preferably, the system further includes at least one image acquisition device disposed in the access channel of the access mechanism, used to collect identification marks used for payment and/or registration, and generate original information of the commodity, the original information is collected in the action information and location information obtained before. For example, the original information includes the variety, quantity, identification code and storage location of the commodity. For example, the product is a fan, its brand is XX, its quantity is 5, its identification code is 000000, and it is stored in the third row of the second product area in the home appliance area. This is beneficial to record the original information, in addition to the maintenance of daily commodities, it is also beneficial for the information collection system 20 to carry out the inventory of the goods with the original information, which is beneficial to the updating of the inventory information.

Preferably, starting from the initial time point when the absolute position is determined based on the first image, the goods temporary storage unit 40 sets an introduction timing period in response to the state of the goods held by the access mechanism, and after the specific introduction timing period elapses, if If at least one image capture device fails to capture the action of the commodity entering the cargo temporary storage unit 40, the commodity temporary storage unit 40 will issue a prompt about the property of the commodity to the access mechanism holding the commodity, wherein the prompt may be in the form of an electronic signal, a voice , images or videos. When the goods temporary storage unit determines that its holder is a person rather than an access mechanism in the form of handling equipment, the goods temporary storage unit 40 may prompt the access mechanism to take off the goods from the shelf but not load the goods for temporary storage Unit 40 sells for 20 yuan, and according to its expiration date, there are ten months left. Preferably, the goods temporary storage unit 40 also sets a reminder timing period (for example, 30 seconds) in response to the setting of the introduction timing period. After the reminder timing period has elapsed, if the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the goods Entering the goods temporary storage unit 40, the goods temporary storage unit 40 will issue a prompt to the access mechanism holding the goods to prompt the current goods to be correctly loaded into the goods temporary storage unit 40, wherein the prompt can be taken as Graphical means of arrows pointing to containment openings.

Preferably, at least one of the image capturing devices is used in the system to indicate the correct position of putting the current commodity back on the shelf through the indication mark 21 on the shelf, and only when the indication mark 21 is located at the position of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity The indicator mark 21 is displayed only when it is within the visible range. Due to the situation of goods moving in the warehouse, such as inventory management of stranded inventory, when such goods need to be moved, the indication mark 21 on the shelf indicates that the current goods should be returned to the correct position on the shelf, which is beneficial to the storage of goods. The correctness of the inventory information after transfer management.

Preferably, after the reminder timing period has elapsed, in the event that the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the action of the commodity entering the commodity temporary storage unit 40, the system further indicates through the indication mark 21 to place the current commodity in the storage unit 40. back to the correct position on the shelf. Wherein, the indication mark 21 can take the form of an arrow pointing to the area where the same commodity of the current commodity is located. More specifically, for example, the indicator 21 is a green fluorescent arrow and can flash according to a preset frequency. When the goods temporary storage unit determines that the owner is an access mechanism in the form of handling equipment rather than a natural person, the goods temporary storage unit 40 transmits the relevant commodity introduction information to the access mechanism in the form of electronic signals , which prompts remote users to complete purchasing decisions as quickly as possible.

Example 2

The present invention discloses an inventory management system, and the preferred implementations of other embodiments can be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflicts or contradictions.

According to a preferred embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 , the system may include: a first image acquisition device 11 for acquiring a first image, and the system determines, based on the first image, where the at least one access mechanism is located on the shelf The absolute position within the zone and the relative position of the access mechanism with respect to at least one shelf carrying at least one commodity. Preferably, corresponding reference points and/or reference lines for identification can be provided on the ground to assist the system in determining absolute and relative positions.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system may further comprise: a second image acquisition device 12 for detecting a second image of the hand of at least one access mechanism at which the hand of the access mechanism enters At least one inventory location of the shelf was previously photographed. Preferably, for a shelf, it can have at least one stocking location. A shelf can be divided into multiple layers. Each level can be an inventory location. Alternatively, a floor can be divided horizontally into multiple areas, each of which can be an inventory location. It should be noted that the dividing lines between these regions may be image-recognizable dividing means and/or non-image-recognizing virtual dividing lines. Separation means are, for example, partition walls and/or painted reference lines. The virtual dividing line that cannot be image-recognized can be placed after the shelf, the second image acquisition device 12 and/or the third image acquisition device 13 corresponding to the shelf are fixed, and then the corresponding commodity is placed, and then the image of the shelf is collected by the system. The information segments the shelves to obtain at least one inventory location containing at least one type of merchandise.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system may further comprise: a third image acquisition device 13 for detecting a third image of the hand of at least one access mechanism, the third image being obtained from the hand of the access mechanism Photographed after at least one inventory location of the shelf has been removed.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system may determine the state of the item held by the corresponding access mechanism based on the comparison of the second image with the third image, and identify the absolute state of the access mechanism in response to the state of the item held by the access mechanism. Changes in at least one inventory position of a shelf at a predetermined relative position around the position, and thereby determine the correspondence between the commodity and the change in the inventory position. Then, the relative position and absolute position are used to classify and analyze the inventory position change and personnel/access mechanism, and accurately associate the shelf with the person or access mechanism currently interacting with it, so that it can be based on the commodity and the storage mechanism anytime, anywhere. The changes in the inventory location are used to dynamically divide the areas that need to be analyzed and calculated. Since the "inventory change" is first associated with "absolute position" and "relative position", the calculation amount of image recognition is greatly reduced, so that real-time inventory analysis can be completed without adding a large number of computing systems.

For example, there are multiple shelves around the absolute position, but the actual changed inventory position cannot be accurately determined by the absolute position, while the relative position can relate to the distance between the two, only when the corresponding access mechanism is at a distance from a shelf When the distance is less than or equal to the preset distance, it is possible for the access mechanism to have a commodity transfer relationship with the shelf in the opposite position. In the case where the access mechanism is close to the corresponding inventory location where the commodity is stored, when the access mechanism returns the commodity to the corresponding inventory location, the change in the inventory location only includes an increase in quantity, not an increase in quantity. Including the increase in category. In the case that the access mechanism is far away from the corresponding inventory location where the commodity is stored, the access mechanism may fail to return the commodity to the corresponding inventory location of the commodity due to its own operation error. Therefore, in the case where the commodity is put back on the shelf and not returned to its corresponding stock position, the change in at least one stock position of the shelf in the predetermined relative position may include: an increase in the category of goods stored in the stock position and The number of stored goods has increased. Preferably, the state of holding the commodity may include the type and/or quantity of the commodity. Preferably, inventory removed from and/or placed into a shelf's inventory location may be identified based on data received from various input devices prior to determining the correspondence between the item and the change in inventory location The identity of the item in the location. For example, a series of images of the hand of the corresponding access mechanism before it passes through the plane into the stock position and also after the hand leaves the stock position can be captured by the image capture device. Based on the comparison of the images, it can be determined whether the respective access mechanism removes the object from the inventory location or places the object into the inventory location. For example, based on analysis of the images, it may be determined that the corresponding access mechanism is not holding the object when the hand enters the inventory location, but is holding the object when the hand is removed from the inventory location (the corresponding access mechanism removes the object from the inventory location). Likewise, image analysis can be used to identify whether the corresponding access mechanism has an object on their hand before the hand enters the inventory location but not when the hand is removed from the inventory location (the corresponding access mechanism puts the object into the inventory position). That is to say, the second image and the third image used for comparison in the present invention not only include a single image, but may also be a comprehensive comparison of a series of second images and a series of third images.

Preferably, the management system of the present invention further discloses a fourth image acquisition device 14, which is arranged in the goods temporary storage unit 40 and used to detect the movement of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit 40, wherein in response to the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit 40 The operation of the storage unit 40 is confirmed, thereby confirming the correspondence between the commodity entering the goods temporary storage unit 40 and the change of the storage position. Preferably, an item identifier representing said item is added to a pick list associated with at least one access mechanism if and only after said confirming step. By adding the commodity identifier to the delivery list, the user can perform real-time accounting of the delivery list according to the commodities put into the temporary goods storage unit 40 during the user's visit to the supermarket, and finally, the expenses can be settled directly according to the delivery list, avoiding the need for Moving the products out in turn again and scanning the barcode for settlement results in a long time-consuming problem. Preferably, the goods temporary storage unit 40 is, for example, at least one of a storage box dedicated to an access mechanism, a shopping cart, a shopping basket and a shopping bag.

Preferably, the fourth image capturing device 14 may be further configured to capture a fourth image and a fifth image of the hand in response to the action of the hand of the access mechanism entering the goods temporary storage unit 40 , wherein, The fourth image was taken before the hand of the access mechanism entered the goods escrow unit 40, and the fifth image was taken after the hand of the access mechanism was removed from the goods escrow unit 40, wherein , determining the state in which the corresponding access mechanism removes the item based on the comparison of the fourth image and the fifth image, identifying the access mechanism in a predetermined relative position around the absolute position of the access mechanism in response to the state in which the access mechanism holds the item Changes in at least one inventory position of the shelf, and thereby determine the correspondence between the removal of the commodity and the change in the inventory position. Here, the return of an item from the goods escrow unit to the stock position is determined by both the removal of the item and the change in the stock position. Thereby, the changed inventory position can be confirmed based on the absolute and relative positions determined by the first image, and the returned merchandise can be analyzed and determined based on the second image, the third image, the fourth image and the fifth image. At this time, the inventory position can be updated accordingly or the goods cleaning procedure can be started, for example, calling for manual intervention to clear the goods that do not meet the shelf goods, or sending the wrong goods into the recycling channel by automatic feeding. For example, by installing a movable robotic arm or an automatic cleaning vehicle with a robotic arm on the ceiling, the goods that do not fit the shelf goods or the wrong goods can be sorted or put into the recycling channel. Preferably, after determining the returned item based on the second, third, fourth and fifth images, the item identifier representing the item is removed from a pickup list associated with the at least one access mechanism . Preferably, the fourth image is taken by the hand of the access mechanism before the hand enters the goods escrow unit 40 without holding the goods. The fifth image was taken after the hand of the access mechanism removed the merchandise from the merchandise escrow unit 40 .

According to a preferred embodiment, the fourth image capturing device 14 may also be configured to: start in response to the access mechanism arriving at the settlement area, to capture the space size of the goods in the temporary storage unit 40 occupied by the goods in the temporary storage unit 40 , the system provides the access mechanism with bags of matching size according to the space size indicating the settlement area providing equipment. In this way, a bag of a suitable size can be provided for the access mechanism, so as to avoid wasting too much time in the settlement area due to judging the required size of the bag, and improve the settlement efficiency.

According to a preferred embodiment, the present invention also discloses a fifth image capture device 15, which is arranged in the access channel of the access mechanism, and is used to capture identification signs for payment and/or registration. Preferably, the identification mark may be at least one of RFID, two-dimensional code, fingerprint, human outline, human face outline, iris image and typical thermal characteristic image. For example, after an access mechanism is detected to hold a cargo escrow unit 40, the system associates the cargo escrow unit 40 with the access mechanism. At the time of settlement of the fee, in the case where the depositor is an unregistered user, the owner of the depositor may be reminded to register at or before the time of settlement, or the payment may be completed directly in a remote manner. When the owner of the access institution or the user who is a natural person registers, the owner or user may be required to select an identification mark as a voucher for subsequent fee settlement, and the user may be required to enter the corresponding identification mark according to the identification mark selected by the user. information. Assuming that the user chooses to pay by iris image, graphic two-dimensional code or RFID, the access mechanism will point the graphic two-dimensional code (posted on the access mechanism) or the corresponding eye toward the fifth image acquisition device when the fee is settled. 15 of the collection area, after passing the verification of the system, use the bound payment account to complete the fee settlement; or make the RFID of the access agency or its graphic two-dimensional code input into the system for settlement.

According to a preferred embodiment, the fifth image capture device 15 is activated only in response to an event in which the fourth image capture device 14 provides an image. Preferably, in response to the event that the fourth image capture device 14 provides an image and according to the position of the cargo staging unit 40 equipped with the fourth image capture device 14 relative to the entry and exit aisles, the fifth image capture device 15 adjusts its optical capture direction and focal length.

According to a preferred embodiment, the first image is captured by the first image capturing device 11 after the second image capturing device 12 captures the second image of the hand of the access mechanism, wherein, The second image is taken before the hand of the access mechanism enters at least one inventory location of the shelf. As a result, the unmanned supermarket can deal with the scene of multiple people entering the store to purchase at the same time. Only when the access mechanism with the first image accesses or puts back the product again, the system will start a series of responsible image analysis operations. In other words, the system's tracking of the access mechanism begins when it attempts to reach the item on the shelf.

Preferably, starting from the initial point in time when the absolute position is determined based on the first image, the goods escrow unit 40 sets an introduction timing period (eg, 5 seconds) in response to the state of the goods held by the access mechanism, and after the specific time has elapsed After the timing period, if the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the action of the commodity entering the commodity temporary storage unit 40, the commodity temporary storage unit 40 will issue a prompt about the commodity attribute to the access mechanism holding the commodity, wherein , the prompt may be in the form of an electronic signal, voice, image or video. When the goods temporary storage unit determines that its holder is a person rather than an access mechanism in the form of handling equipment, the goods temporary storage unit 40 may prompt the access mechanism to take off the goods from the shelf but not load the goods for temporary storage Unit 40 sells for 20 yuan, and according to its expiration date, there are ten months left. Preferably, the goods temporary storage unit 40 also sets a reminder timing period (for example, 30 seconds) in response to the setting of the introduction timing period. After the reminder timing period has elapsed, if the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the goods Entering the goods temporary storage unit 40, the goods temporary storage unit 40 will issue a prompt to the access mechanism holding the goods to prompt the current goods to be correctly loaded into the goods temporary storage unit 40, wherein the prompt can be taken as Graphical means of arrows pointing to containment openings. Preferably, after the reminder timing period has elapsed, in the event that the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the action of the commodity entering the commodity temporary storage unit 40, the system further indicates through the indication mark 21 to place the current commodity in the storage unit 40. back to the correct position on the shelf. Wherein, the indication mark 21 may take the form of an arrow pointing to the area where the same commodity of the current commodity is located. More specifically, for example, the indicator 21 is a green fluorescent arrow and can flash according to a preset frequency. When the goods temporary storage unit determines that the owner is an access mechanism in the form of handling equipment rather than a natural person, the goods temporary storage unit 40 transmits the relevant commodity introduction information to the access mechanism in the form of electronic signals , which prompts remote users to complete purchasing decisions as quickly as possible.

Preferably, the system further includes a sixth image acquisition device 16 . After the reminder timing period has elapsed, the sixth image acquisition device 16 fails to capture the action of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit 40 when the fourth image acquisition device 14 fails. is activated under the condition that the access mechanism is used to collect a sixth image of the shelf associated with the commodity and a seventh image of the shelf, wherein the sixth image is taken before the hand of the access mechanism holding the commodity enters the shelf, the The seventh image is taken after the hand of the access mechanism holding the product is removed from the shelf, and the correspondence between the product and the change in the stock position is judged twice based on the comparison between the sixth image and the seventh image. The sixth image capturing device 16 is only activated when the fourth image capturing device 14 fails to capture the movement of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit 40 after the reminder timing period has elapsed, because the goods are played back on the shelf. More environmental information is required and the analysis is more difficult than removing the item from the shelf. Preferably, when the second and third images are used for the first judgment, the sixth and seventh images are also used for the second judgment, so that the obtained corresponding relationship between the commodity and the change of the inventory position is more accurate reliable. Preferably, when the results of the two judgments are inconsistent, manual verification or on-site verification by an intelligent robot may be arranged. Preferably, the main difference between the sixth and seventh images and the second and third images is that the objects of the sixth and seventh images are shelves. And the object of the second image and the third image is the hand. The significance of arranging the sixth image capturing device 16 is to recognize that the corresponding access mechanism can also track the commodities when they take out the commodities on the shelf and then place them on other shelves. For example, after an access mechanism picks up a corresponding commodity in one inventory location, it sees another commodity of the same type in another inventory location, which is more attractive, and then the user wishes to remove the corresponding commodity and replace it with another commodity. However, at this time, the access mechanism is probably not near the corresponding shelf where the corresponding product is taken, resulting in its low willingness to return the product to the corresponding inventory location, and may directly place the corresponding product in the current location. On the shelf, this results in the corresponding item may be placed in a non-corresponding inventory location on a non-corresponding shelf. Thus, preferably, the system plays a persuasive reminder to the access mechanism holding the product when it does not return the product to the correct position on the shelf in accordance with the indicator 21 . For example, dear customer, you have not put an item back in its correct position. In order to maintain a good shopping environment and avoid misleading others, please put the item back in the correct position according to the instruction mark 21, thank you for your cooperation . Preferably, after the persuasive reminder is played and the corresponding item has not been put back into the correct position, a position error mark 22 is displayed under the wrong position of the item, wherein the position error mark 22 may take the form of an exclamation mark, a cross, or At least one of the literal forms. Preferably, the correct location and/or the correct selling price of an item that has not been put back into the correct position is indicated by voice and/or graphically after it has been removed from the shelf displaying the misplacement indicia 22. For example, through the flashing indicator 21 and the voice: Dear customer, hello, the product in your hand has been placed in the wrong position, and its correct position is the position of the flashing indicator 21, please refer to the correct position The corresponding price tag to purchase, thank you! In this way, employees can quickly find misplaced items and quickly return them to the correct location, improving work efficiency. At the same time, it can also avoid wrong shopping orientation for shoppers due to the mismatch between price tags and actual products, and improve user experience. Moreover, in this way, since the correct position of the product can be quickly known, in the case where the user needs to move a short distance to the correct position, the user chooses not to buy even after seeing the actual price tag and/or the correct selling price The item, some users will assist in returning the item to its correct position, reducing the workload of the staff. Preferably, the system may also include an indication display that may be used to play the correct position of the misplaced item for the access mechanism picking up the misplaced item through the indication display when the correct location of the misplaced item is not on its misplaced shelf. 's selling price.

According to a preferred embodiment, the position error marker 22 can differentiate the degree of deviation of the error in a hierarchical manner by means of at least two different visual states. The degree of deviation is, for example, at least one of distance deviation, price deviation, and utility deviation. This intuitively prompts employees or shoppers. For example, when the position error mark 22 can distinguish the distance deviation by means of hierarchical display, it can be divided into three grades by a first color, a second color different from the first color, and a third color different from the first and second colors. The degree of deviation of the distance deviation. When the required distance to put the product from the current wrong position back to its correct position is less than or equal to the first distance threshold, the position error mark 22 is configured as the first color, and when the product is put back from the current wrong position When the required distance to its correct location is greater than the first distance threshold and less than or equal to the second distance threshold, the location error mark 22 is configured as the second color, and when the product is returned from the current wrong location to its correct location, When the required distance is greater than the third distance threshold, the position error marker 22 is configured with a third color. Preferably, the first color, the second color and the third color may be blue, yellow and red, respectively. The first distance threshold is, for example, 5 meters. The second distance threshold is, for example, 20 meters. The third distance threshold is, for example, 40 meters. Preferably, utility biases are biases such as weight gain versus weight loss, laxative versus antidiarrheal. It should be noted that the present invention can also implement different visual states in other manners or a combination of multiple manners, instead of only being implemented in different colors. For example, the present invention can also be implemented by a combination of numbers and colors. Specifically, taking the distance deviation as an example here, when the required distance to put the product from the current wrong position back to its correct position is less than or equal to the first distance threshold, the position error mark 22 is configured as the first color and The first number is displayed, and the position error marker 22 is configured as a second color when the required distance to return the item from the current wrong position to its correct position is greater than the first distance threshold and less than or equal to the second distance threshold. A second number is displayed, and the position error marker 22 is configured in a third color and displayed when the distance required to return the item from the current wrong location to its correct location is greater than the third distance threshold. The first number is, for example, 1, the second number is, for example, 2, and the third number is, for example, 3.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system further includes a seventh image capturing device 17 for capturing the first image before the system indicates by the indicator mark 21 on the rack to put the current commodity back in the correct position on the rack Eight images, the system analyzes the visual situation of the indicator 21 corresponding to the correct position according to the eighth image, and displays the indicator only when the indicator 21 is within the visual range of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity. 21 is indicated. Preferably, when the indication mark 21 is not within the visual range of the access mechanism for picking up the current commodity, or in other words, there is an obstacle between the access mechanism for picking up the current commodity and the corresponding indication mark 21 In the case of a fixed obstacle to the line of sight, the correct location and/or the correct selling price of the product will be indicated by voice. In this way, it is possible not to mislead others when the correct position of the commodity is not within the visual range. Preferably, the system also analyzes the identity of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity according to the eighth image, only when the indicator mark 21 is within the visual range of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity and the identity of the access mechanism This indicator 21 is displayed only when the access mechanism is sorted. For example, the identity of the analyst can be identified through at least one of face recognition, wearing specific work clothes, and carrying electronic tags.

According to a preferred embodiment, before displaying the indicator 21, the system further analyzes the first displayed quantity of the indicator 21 that needs to be displayed simultaneously within the visual range of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity according to the eighth image. When the displayed quantity is greater than or equal to two, the corresponding position error marks 22 and indicator marks 21 are associated in a grouping manner, and the same group of position error marks 22 and indicator marks 21 are visually associated and different groups are used. Set them in a visually distinguishable way. For example, within the same group, the position error marker 22 emits the same color marker as the indicator marker 21 at least in part, and the color marker is different between different groups. For another example, in the same group, the position error mark 22 and the indicator mark 21 display the same numerical mark, and the numerical marks are different between different groups. For another example, in the same group, the position error mark 22 and the indicator mark 21 display the same graphic mark, and the graphic marks between different groups are different. Graphical symbols are, for example, circles, triangles or quadrilaterals.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system may further include: an eighth image acquisition device 18 for acquiring a ninth image of at least a part of the area of the shelf setting position error mark 22, and the system analyzes the actual position according to the ninth image The display of the error mark 22 matches the setting of the position error mark 22 in the system, wherein when the two do not match, the shelf where the mismatched position error mark 22 is located is located and the maintenance personnel are notified. In this way, it is possible to quickly identify and locate the rack in which the position error mark 22 is faulty, and perform maintenance quickly, thereby reducing the situation of missing or wrong marking.

Preferably, when the second image acquisition device 12 detects the second image of the hand of an access mechanism, it also analyzes the following two: "determined based on the comparison of the second image with the third image The status of the goods held by the access mechanism” and “the action of the goods detected by the fourth image acquisition device 14 of the goods temporary storage unit 40 carried by the access mechanism entering the goods temporary storage unit 40”, when the analysis result shows that The system grants the access mechanism access to at least one inventory location of a shelf at a predetermined relative position adjacent to the access mechanism's absolute position when the access mechanism holds no merchandise or only one merchandise Products of.

According to a preferred embodiment, each image capturing apparatus mentioned in the present invention can use any type of camera and other alternative imaging devices. For example, one or more of the cameras may be an RGB camera. One or more of the cameras may be depth sensing cameras.

Preferably, in order to acquire the required images, each image acquisition device may be one or more, and when there are multiple image acquisition devices, they may be distributed in multiple locations. For example, some image capture devices may be located overhead, such as on the ceiling, to capture images of the access mechanism and/or corresponding locations within the premises. As another example, some image capture devices may be located on or within an inventory location. For example, it may be located on an exterior portion of the inventory location and positioned to capture images of the access mechanism and/or the location surrounding the inventory location. For another example, some image capture devices may be set in the area where the price tag is located, facing the opposite side shelf to collect image information on the opposite side shelf.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system of the present invention also includes a computing system 30 . Computing system 30 may be local, remote, or any combination thereof. Likewise, computing system 30 may be configured to communicate with input components, output components, and/or directly with first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth image capture devices via a network communicating with at least one of the cargo staging units 40 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the communication may be by wired and/or wireless means. Preferably, computing system 30 is, for example, one or more servers. A processor and memory may be included in the server. The system may include or provide image processing (eg, for user recognition, facial expression recognition, and/or item recognition), inventory tracking, and/or location determination.

Example 3

This embodiment is a further improvement to Embodiment 1, and repeated content will not be repeated. Preferred implementations of other embodiments may be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflicts or contradictions.

The invention also discloses an inventory management method, which can be implemented by the system of the invention and other alternatives. For example, the method of the present invention is implemented by using various components in the system.

According to a preferred embodiment, the method may comprise: using at least one first image capturing device 11 for capturing a first image and determining, by the management system based on said first image, where the at least one access mechanism is located on the shelf The absolute position within the area and the relative position of the access mechanism with respect to at least one shelf carrying at least one commodity; at least one second image acquisition device 12 is used for detecting the first position of the hand of the at least one access mechanism. two images, the second image being taken before the hand of the access mechanism enters at least one stock position of the shelf; use of at least one third image capture device 13 for detecting the hand of the at least one access mechanism a third image, the third image being taken after the hand of the access mechanism is removed from the at least one inventory location of the shelf; wherein the corresponding access mechanism holding is determined based on a comparison of the second image with the third image The state of the commodity, in response to the state of the commodity being held by the access mechanism, to identify a change in at least one inventory position of the shelf at a predetermined relative position around the absolute position of the access mechanism, and thereby determine the commodity and the Describe the correspondence between changes in inventory locations.

According to a preferred embodiment, the method may further comprise: using at least one fourth image capturing device 14, which is arranged in the goods staging unit 40, for detecting the movement of the goods into the goods staging unit 40, wherein in response to The action of the commodity entering the commodity temporary storage unit 40, thereby confirming the correspondence between the commodity entering the commodity temporary storage unit 40 and the change of the inventory position.

Example 4

This embodiment is a further improvement of Embodiment 1, 2, 3 or a combination thereof, and repeated content will not be repeated. Preferred implementations of other embodiments may be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflicts or contradictions.

According to a preferred embodiment, a screen door should be installed in front of the barcode scanner. The screen door is switched by various QR codes available for payment of individuals used by personnel. Only one person can enter at a time. After scanning the code, the door will be opened immediately. closure. The person moves the shopping cart at an appropriate speed, scans the goods through the barcode scanner, and touches the screen to display the information of the goods to be paid and the total price of the currently purchased goods. After the person confirms that it is correct, the system automatically scans the QR code account before on settlement. After confirming that the settlement is correct, the screen door behind the barcode scanner is opened, and at the same time, the screen door in front of the barcode scanner starts to scan the QR code of the next person. In this way, the problem of personnel stealing goods or making mistakes in settlement can be avoided, and the loss of the supermarket can be reduced.

Example 5

This embodiment is a further improvement of Embodiment 1, 2, 3, 4 or a combination thereof, and repeated content will not be repeated. Preferred implementations of other embodiments may be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflicts or contradictions.

According to a preferred embodiment, the shelf is provided with at least one weight collecting device for collecting the weight difference between the hand of the corresponding person before entering the at least one stocking position of the shelf and after the hand is removed from the at least one stocking position of the shelf, and at After the system determines the state of the commodity held by the corresponding person based on the comparison of the second image and the third image, the state of the commodity is checked by the determined weight of the commodity and the weight difference recorded in the system.

In addition, the present invention can also preliminarily judge the state of the commodity by directly installing the weight collecting device on the shelf, and using the weight difference collected by the collecting device. Those skilled in the art can think that, in this case, the weights of multiple commodities on a shelf should be different to a certain extent, so as to realize the purpose of identifying the status of the commodities.

Example 6

This embodiment may be a further improvement and/or supplement to Embodiment 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or a combination thereof, and repeated content will not be repeated. The entire and/or partial contents of the preferred implementations of other embodiments may be used as supplements to this embodiment without causing conflict or contradiction.

This embodiment also discloses an unmanned supermarket system, and the technical features of the system are completely or partially the same as that of an inventory management system, so as to achieve corresponding technical effects.

This embodiment also discloses an inventory management system for an unmanned supermarket, and the technical features of the system are completely or partially the same as an inventory management system, so as to achieve corresponding technical effects.

This embodiment also discloses an inventory management method for an unmanned supermarket. The technical features of the method are completely or partially the same as an inventory management method, so as to achieve corresponding technical effects.

While the invention has been described in detail, modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications are also considered part of this disclosure. In view of the foregoing discussion, the relevant knowledge in the art, and the references or information discussed above in connection with the background discussion, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, no further description is deemed necessary. Furthermore, it is to be understood that various aspects of the invention and parts of various embodiments may be combined or interchanged, in whole or in part. Moreover, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description and accompanying drawings are by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the invention.

The foregoing discussion of the present disclosure has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. This is not intended to limit the disclosure to the form disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features of the present disclosure are grouped together in one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects, for example, for the purpose of simplifying the disclosure. Features of an embodiment, configuration or aspect may be combined in alternative embodiments, configurations or aspects other than those discussed above. This method of the disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the disclosure requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment, configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of the present disclosure.

Claims (10)

1. An image acquisition device for an inventory management system, wherein the image acquisition device acquires first action information, wherein the first action information includes a first image, wherein the first image is captured by at least one image capture device before the access mechanism enters at least one inventory location of the shelf; wherein the inventory management system determines, based on the first image, an absolute position of at least one of the access mechanisms within an area where a shelf is located and the access mechanism relative to at least one of the shelves carrying at least one commodity relative position. 2. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein the image capture device is further configurable to detect a second image of at least one hand of the access mechanism, the second image taken before the hand of the access mechanism enters at least one inventory location of the shelf; and a third image for detecting the hand of at least one of the access mechanism, the third image being in the access mechanism Photographed after the hand has been removed from at least one of the inventory locations on the shelf. 3. The image acquisition device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inventory management system is capable of determining, based on the comparison of the second image and the third image, the holdings of the corresponding access mechanism. the state of the commodity, identifying a change in at least one inventory position of a shelf at a predetermined relative position around the absolute position of the access mechanism in response to the state in which the access mechanism holds the commodity, and judging therefrom The correspondence between the commodity and the change in the inventory location. 4. The image acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, from an initial point in time when the absolute position is determined based on the first image, the goods escrow unit (40) responds to the access An introduction timing period is set according to the state of the commodity being held by the institution. After the specific introduction timing period has elapsed, at least one of the image capturing devices (10) fails to capture the entry of the commodity into the goods temporary storage unit (40). In the case of an action, the goods temporary storage unit (40) issues a prompt about the property of the goods to the access mechanism holding the goods. 5. The image acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, in response to the setting of the introduction timing period, the goods temporary storage unit (40) further sets a reminder timing period, and after the After the reminder timing period has expired, in the case that at least one of the image capturing devices (10) fails to capture the action of the goods entering the goods temporary storage unit (40), the goods temporary storage unit (40) will send a notification to the goods temporary storage unit (40). The access mechanism holding the commodity issues a prompt to correctly load the current commodity into the goods temporary storage unit (40). 6. An information collection system for an inventory management system, characterized in that, the information collection system can collect and obtain the information of the access mechanism when the access mechanism triggers the first action of storing and/or taking out commodities. first action information, where, The first action information is acquired by at least one image acquisition device in the information acquisition system; Wherein, the image acquisition device acts on the information acquisition system to instruct the access mechanism to put the current commodity back to the correct position on the shelf through the indication mark (21) on the shelf, only when the indication mark (21) The indication mark (21) is displayed only if it is within the visual range of the access mechanism that picks up the current item. 7. The information collection system according to claim 6, characterized in that in the case that the indication mark (21) is not located within the visual range of the access mechanism for picking up the current commodity or when the current commodity is picked up When there is a fixed obstacle blocking the line of sight between the access mechanism of the commodity and the corresponding indication mark (21), the information collection system indicates the correct location and/or the correct selling price of the commodity by voice. 8. The information collection system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the information collection system further analyzes the identity of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity according to the image collected by the image collection device, and only in this The indication mark (21) is located within the visible range of the access mechanism that picks up the current commodity, and the indication mark (21) is displayed only when the identity of the access mechanism is a sorting access mechanism. 9. The information collection system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that, before displaying the indicator (21), the information collection system further analyzes and picks up images collected by the image collection device The first displayed number of indication marks (21) that need to be displayed simultaneously within the visual range of the access mechanism of the current commodity, when the first displayed number is greater than or equal to two, by marking the corresponding position error (22) Associated with the indicator (21) in a grouping manner, and visual association between the error marker (22) and the indicator (21) at the same group position and visual distinction between different groups set up locally. 10. The information collection system according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the information collection system can further comprise: at least one of the image collection devices, which is used to collect the position error marks ( 22), and the information collection system analyzes the actual display of the position error mark (22) and the position error mark (22) in the information collection system according to the ninth image The set matching situation, wherein, when the two do not match, locate the shelf where the unmatched position error mark (22) is located and notify the maintenance personnel.

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