Methods and systems for automatic fullness estimation of containers
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud from a depth sensor that is oriented towards an open end of a shipping container, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points that each have a respective depth value;
segmenting the received 3D point cloud among a plurality of grid elements;
calculating a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volume for each grid element based on at least a respective grid-element area and a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element depth value for each respective grid element that is determined based at least in part on the difference between (i) a depth dimension of the shipping container and (ii) an unloaded-container-portion depth value for the corresponding grid element;
calculating a loaded-container-portion volume of the shipping container by aggregating the calculated respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volumes;
calculating an estimated fullness of the shipping container based on the loaded-container-portion volume and a capacity of the shipping container; and
outputting the calculated estimated fullness of the shipping container.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for (a) receiving a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud from a depth sensor that is oriented towards an open end of a shipping container, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points that each have a respective depth value, (b) segmenting the received 3D point cloud among a plurality of grid elements, (c) calculating a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volume for each grid element, (d) calculating a loaded-container-portion volume of the shipping container by aggregating the calculated respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volumes, (e) calculating an estimated fullness of the shipping container based on the loaded-container-portion volume and a capacity of the shipping container; and (f) outputting the calculated estimated fullness of the shipping container.
64 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud from a depth sensor that is oriented towards an open end of a shipping container, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points that each have a respective depth value; segmenting the received 3D point cloud among a plurality of grid elements; calculating a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volume for each grid element based on at least a respective grid-element area and a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element depth value for each respective grid element that is determined based at least in part on the difference between (i) a depth dimension of the shipping container and (ii) an unloaded-container-portion depth value for the corresponding grid element; calculating a loaded-container-portion volume of the shipping container by aggregating the calculated respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volumes; calculating an estimated fullness of the shipping container based on the loaded-container-portion volume and a capacity of the shipping container; and outputting the calculated estimated fullness of the shipping container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system comprising:
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a depth sensor that is oriented towards an open end of a shipping container; a communication interface; a processor; and data storage containing instructions executable by the processor for causing the system to carry out a set of functions, the set of functions including; receiving a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud from the depth sensor, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points that each have a respective depth value; segmenting the received 3D point cloud among a plurality of grid elements; calculating a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volume for each grid element based on at least a respective grid-element area and a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element depth value for each respective grid element that is determined based at least in part on the difference between (i) a depth dimension of the shipping container and (ii) an unloaded-container-portion depth value for the corresponding grid element; calculating a loaded-container-portion volume of the shipping container by aggregating the calculated respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volumes; calculating an estimated fullness of the shipping container based on the loaded-container-portion volume and a capacity of the shipping container; and outputting the calculated estimated fullness of the shipping container. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method comprising:
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receiving a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud from a depth sensor that is oriented towards an open end of a shipping container, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points that each have a respective depth value, wherein the depth sensor has an optical axis and an image plane; rotating the received 3D point cloud to align (i) the optical axis with a ground level and (ii) the image plane with an end plane of the shipping container; segmenting the rotated 3D point cloud among a plurality of grid elements that collectively form a two-dimensional (2D) grid image that corresponds to a plane that is parallel to the open end of the shipping container, each grid element having a respective grid-element area; determining a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element depth value for each grid element at least in part by comparing (i) the respective portion of the projected point cloud that is overlaid by the respective grid-element area of the respective grid element with (ii) a respective corresponding portion of a reference empty-container point cloud; calculating a respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volume for each grid element based on at least the respective grid-element area and the respective loaded-container-portion grid-element depth value for each respective grid element; calculating a loaded-container-portion volume of the shipping container by aggregating the calculated respective loaded-container-portion grid-element volumes; determining a capacity of the shipping container based at least in part on the received depth data calculating an estimated fullness of the shipping container based on the loaded-container-portion volume and the determined capacity of the shipping container; and outputting the calculated estimated fullness of the shipping container.
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Specification