Arrangement for, and method of, loading freight into a shipping container

• US 10,721,451 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2016
• Issued: 07/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Brown, Patrick Martin, Seiter, Paul, Swope, Charles B., Nanda, Chinmay
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Xuemei G
• Application Number:
  US15/078,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20170280125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,581 Days
• Field of Search: 1 1, 340928, 348 42, 348 47, 348 48, 348 49, 348 50, 356 51, 600 1, 705 23, 705332, 705414
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/00 Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops B65G37/00; stacking of articles B65G57/00; removing articles from stacks B65G59/00; loading machines B65G65/02
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0208 relating to the transported articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0258 Weight of the article
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/041 Camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10028 Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/62 of area, perimeter, diameter or volume
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/122 Improving the 3D impression of stereoscopic images by modifying image signal contents, e.g. by filtering or adding monoscopic depth cues H04N13/128 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/243 using three or more 2D image sensors

Abstract

A plurality of three-dimensional (3D) cameras is deployed about a zone through which freight is conveyed to a shipping container. The 3D cameras have sensors with fields of view over which a plurality of point clouds of voxels are captured from the freight. A server combines the point clouds to obtain a composite point cloud of the freight, encloses the composite point cloud with a bounding box having dimensions, and dimensions the freight from the dimensions of the bounding box. An optional scale weighs the freight while it is being dimensioned and moved through the zone.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first three-dimensional (3D) camera deployed at a zone through which freight is conveyed to a container, and having a first field of view, the first 3D camera configured to generate a first point cloud of voxels representative of the freight;

a second 3D camera deployed at the zone and having a second field of view narrower than the first field of view, the second 3D camera configured to generate a second point cloud of voxels representative of the freight; and

a dimensioner in communication with the first and second 3D cameras, the dimensioner configured to;

weigh the voxels of to the first point cloud based on respective angles of the voxels relative to the center of the first field of view of the first 3D camera;

weigh the voxels of to the second point cloud based on respective angles of the voxels relative to a center to a center of the second field of view of the second 3D camera;

combine the first and second point clouds to obtain a composite point cloud representative of the freight;

enclose the composite point cloud with a bounding box having dimensions and facial constraints, wherein the facial constraints include a predetermined orientation of at least one face of the bounding box with respect to one of the zone through which freight is conveyed and at least another face of the bounding box; and

dimension the freight using the dimensions of the bounding box enclosing the composite point cloud, wherein the dimensioner is implemented by a processor.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second 3D cameras are stationary and are aimed at the freight along different lines of sight, and further comprising a freight mover configured to uninterruptedly move the freight through the zone past the first and second 3D cameras.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a scale configured to weigh the freight simultaneously with the freight being dimensioned while the freight is uninterruptedly moved through the zone.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a detector configured to trigger the first and second 3D cameras to capture the first and second point clouds upon entry of the freight in the zone.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

each voxel is associated with a set of coordinates that define a position of each voxel;

the first and second 3D cameras capture a plurality of the sets of the coordinates of each voxel; and

the dimensioner combines the point clouds by averaging the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein:

each voxel has one of a range value indicative of a distance between a respective one of the first and second 3D camera and the freight, and an intensity value indicative of received signal strength; and

the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras with different weighting factors that are based on at least one of the range value and the intensity value.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein:

each voxel has a confidence value; and

the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras based on the confidence value.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein:

the first and second 3D cameras operate under variable environmental conditions; and

the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras with different weighting factors that are based on the variable environmental conditions.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimensioner is further configured to:

assign a first weight to the first point cloud based on the second 3D camera having a narrower field of view than the first 3D camera;

assign a second weight to the second point cloud based on the second 3D camera having a narrower field of view than the first 3D camera, wherein the first weight is different than the second weight; and

combine the first and second point clouds according to the first and second weights to obtain the composite point cloud.