Store shelf imaging system and method
First Claim
1. A continuous motion store profile generation system comprising:
- a robotic mobile base including an operatively associated primary navigation component configured to determine a location of the robotic mobile base within a retail environment, the retail environment including a plurality of product display units arranged in a plurality of aisles, each product display unit including a plurality of product display fixtures, a plurality of products arranged on one or more of the product display fixtures, and a plurality of tags attached to the product display fixtures, each tag including product-related data including a barcode associated with a respective product proximately located on the product display fixture near the tag;
a digital image capture assembly mounted on the robotic mobile base, the digital image capture assembly including a plurality of digital image capture devices for acquiring digital images of the product display units;
a master control unit operatively associated with the digital image capture assembly including an operatively associated memory which stores instructions and a processor for executing the instructions, the control unit instructions including instructions for processing the digital images acquired by the plurality of digital image capture devices at a sequence of locations during a continuous movement of the robotic mobile base in the retail environment, thereafter extracting the product-related data from the digital images of the product display units captured by the plurality of image digital capture devices during the continuous movement of the robotic mobile base, and generating a store profile indicating locations of the products and/or tags throughout the retail environment based on the extracted product-related data, a spatial characterization of the digital image capture assembly, and the locations of the robotic mobile base at the sequence of locations provided by the primary navigation component during continuous movement of the robotic mobile base during an interval of time that the digital images were acquired and an image-based accuracy correction component configured to generate a corrected location of the robotic mobile base by determining a shift distance associated with aligning overlapping portions of sequential overlapping digital images, the shift distance applied to the location of the robotic mobile base provided by the primary navigation component.
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Abstract
A store profile generation system includes a mobile base and an image capture assembly mounted on the base. The assembly includes at least one image capture device for acquiring images of product display units in a retail environment. A control unit acquires the images captured by the at least one image capture device at a sequence of locations of the mobile base in the retail environment. The control unit extracts product-related data from the acquired images and generates a store profile indicating locations of products and their associated tags throughout the retail environment, based on the extracted product-related data. The store profile can be used for generating new product labels for a sale in an appropriate order for a person to match to the appropriate locations in a single pass through the store.
102 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A continuous motion store profile generation system comprising:
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a robotic mobile base including an operatively associated primary navigation component configured to determine a location of the robotic mobile base within a retail environment, the retail environment including a plurality of product display units arranged in a plurality of aisles, each product display unit including a plurality of product display fixtures, a plurality of products arranged on one or more of the product display fixtures, and a plurality of tags attached to the product display fixtures, each tag including product-related data including a barcode associated with a respective product proximately located on the product display fixture near the tag; a digital image capture assembly mounted on the robotic mobile base, the digital image capture assembly including a plurality of digital image capture devices for acquiring digital images of the product display units; a master control unit operatively associated with the digital image capture assembly including an operatively associated memory which stores instructions and a processor for executing the instructions, the control unit instructions including instructions for processing the digital images acquired by the plurality of digital image capture devices at a sequence of locations during a continuous movement of the robotic mobile base in the retail environment, thereafter extracting the product-related data from the digital images of the product display units captured by the plurality of image digital capture devices during the continuous movement of the robotic mobile base, and generating a store profile indicating locations of the products and/or tags throughout the retail environment based on the extracted product-related data, a spatial characterization of the digital image capture assembly, and the locations of the robotic mobile base at the sequence of locations provided by the primary navigation component during continuous movement of the robotic mobile base during an interval of time that the digital images were acquired and an image-based accuracy correction component configured to generate a corrected location of the robotic mobile base by determining a shift distance associated with aligning overlapping portions of sequential overlapping digital images, the shift distance applied to the location of the robotic mobile base provided by the primary navigation component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A store profile generation system comprising:
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a robotic mobile base including an operatively associated primary navigation component configured to determine a location of the robotic mobile base within a retail environment, the retail environment including a plurality of product display units arranged in a plurality of aisles, each product display unit including a plurality of product display fixtures, a plurality of products arranged on one or more of the product display fixtures, and a plurality of tags attached to the product display fixtures, each tag including product-related data including a barcode associated with a respective product proximately located on the product display fixture near the tag; a high resolution (HR) digital image capture assembly mounted on the robotic mobile base, the digital image capture assembly including a plurality of high resolution (HR) digital image capture devices configured at a first resolution and a first field of view (FOV) to acquire HR digital images of the product display units; and a master control unit operatively associated with the HR digital image capture assembly including an operatively associated memory which stores instructions and a processor for executing the instructions, the control unit instructions including instructions for processing the HR digital images acquired by the plurality of HR digital image capture devices at a sequence of locations during a continuous movement of the robotic mobile base in the retail environment, thereafter extracting the product-related data from the HR digital images of the product display units captured by the plurality of HR digital image capture devices during the continuous movement of the robotic mobile base, and generating a store profile indicating locations of the products and/or tags throughout the retail environment based on the extracted product-related data, a spatial characterization of the image capture assembly, and the locations of the robotic mobile base at the sequence of locations provided by the primary navigation component during continuous movement of the robotic mobile base during an interval of time that the HR digital images were acquired and an image-based accuracy correction component configured to generate a corrected location of the robotic mobile base by determining a shift distance associated with aligning overlapping portions of sequential overlapping HR digital images, the shift distance applied to the location of the robotic mobile base provided by the primary navigation component. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification