Fiducial markers with a small set of values
First Claim
1. A method for managing inventory items, the method comprising:
- placing a pattern of fiducial markers including repeated instances of one or more uniquely identifiable fiducial markers within an inventory facility;
creating a reference map associating locations within the inventory facility with fiducial markers in the pattern of fiducial markers;
capturing a local image of a portion of the pattern of fiducial markers with an image capture device mounted to an unmanned drive unit;
processing the local image, by a processor, using relative locations between fiducial markers, of the pattern of fiducial markers, in the local image in conjunction with a pattern matching algorithm and the reference map to determine a location of the unmanned drive unit within the inventory facility; and
controlling, by the processor, the unmannned drive unit to move to a second location within the inventory facility based at least in part on the determined location.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for managing inventory items includes a portable inventory holder and an unmanned drive unit configured to move the inventory holder between locations in an inventory facility. The inventory facility includes a plurality of uniquely identifiable fiducial markers having a small set of values distributed in a pattern. The drive unit captures at least one image of a subset of the plurality of the fiducial markers. The at least one captured image is processed to determine a location of the drive unit within the facility. A path is determined along which the drive unit moves to an inventory holder and moves the inventory holder to another location. The pattern of fiducial markers can include one or more repeated instances of uniquely identifiable fiducial markers. A fiducial marker can encode information using a readable code and at least one attribute of the fiducial marker.
28 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for managing inventory items, the method comprising:
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placing a pattern of fiducial markers including repeated instances of one or more uniquely identifiable fiducial markers within an inventory facility; creating a reference map associating locations within the inventory facility with fiducial markers in the pattern of fiducial markers; capturing a local image of a portion of the pattern of fiducial markers with an image capture device mounted to an unmanned drive unit; processing the local image, by a processor, using relative locations between fiducial markers, of the pattern of fiducial markers, in the local image in conjunction with a pattern matching algorithm and the reference map to determine a location of the unmanned drive unit within the inventory facility; and controlling, by the processor, the unmannned drive unit to move to a second location within the inventory facility based at least in part on the determined location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for managing inventory items, the method comprising:
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placing a pattern of fiducial markers within an inventory facility, each of the pattern of fiducial markers encoding respective fiducial value information using a readable code and at least one attribute of the fiducial marker, the at least one attribute including at least one of;
(a) an orientation of the fiducial marker relative to a reference direction, (b) a color of the fiducial marker, (c) a size of the fiducial marker, or (d) a shape of the fiducial marker;creating a reference map associating locations within the inventory facility with fiducial markers in the pattern of fiducial markers; capturing a local image of a portion of the pattern of fiducial markers with an image capture device mounted to an unmanned drive unit; processing the local image, by a processor, to; detect a fiducial marker, of the pattern of fiducial markers, in the local image, determine the at least one attribute of the detected fiducial marker; read the readable code of the detected fiducial marker; decode the fiducial value information of the detected fiducial marker using the determined at least one attribute of the detected fiducial marker and the readable code of the detected fiducial marker; determine a location of the unmanned drive unit within the inventory facility based on the fiducial value information of the detected fiducial marker, a location of the detected fiducial marker within the local image, and the reference map; and controlling, by the processor, the unmanned drive unit to move to a second location within the inventory facility based at least in part on the determined location. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification