SMARTPHONE-BASED ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20120202515A1
• Filed: 02/09/2011
• Published: 08/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deutsche Telekom AG, Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Original Assignee: Deutsche Telekom AG, Stanford University
• Inventors: Hsu, Cheng-Hsin, Kim, Kyu-Han, Singh, Jatinder Pal, Girod, Bernd, Chen, David M., Tsai, Sam
• Granted Patent: US 9,805,331 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device includes acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device, which also collects a location of the mobile communications device while acquiring the image of the one or more of the objects. The location and image are transferred from the mobile communications device to a remote server via a wireless network, such that the one or more of the objects are identified at the server based on the image, and the location and identity of the one or more objects are stored on a database associated with the server.

Claims

1. A method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device, the method comprising:

acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device;

collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device while acquiring the image of the one or more of the objects; and

transferring the location and image of the one or more of the objects from the mobile communications device to a remote server via a wireless network, such that the one or more of the objects are identified at the server based on the image, and the location and identity of the one or more objects are stored on a database associated with the server.

2. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 1, wherein the step of acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device includes acquiring an image via a built in camera of the mobile communications device.

3. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 1, wherein the objects are books.

4. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 3, wherein the step of acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device comprises acquiring an image of the contents of a book shelf.

5. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 3, wherein the step of acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device comprises acquiring an image of the contents each rack of a book shelf having multiple racks.

6. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 1, wherein the step of collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device comprises tracking a location of the device based on local wireless signals.

7. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 6, wherein the step of collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device further comprises reading sensor signals from one or more accelerometers hosted within the mobile communications device.

8. The method of tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device according to claim 1, further comprising:

acquiring another image of the one or more objects at the mobile communications device;

transmitting the other image to the server from the mobile communications device; and

receiving from the server at the mobile communications device an identification of the one or more objects.

9. A non-transient computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions for tracking an inventory of objects via a mobile communications device, the instructions comprising:

instructions for acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device;

instructions for collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device while acquiring the image of the one or more of the objects; and

instructions for transferring the location and image of the one or more of the objects from the mobile communications device to a remote server via a wireless network, such that the one or more of the objects are identified at the server based on the image, and the location and identity of the one or more objects are stored on a database associated with the server.

10. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the instructions for acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device include instructions for acquiring an image via a built in camera of the mobile communications device.

11. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the objects are books.

12. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the instructions for acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device comprise instructions for acquiring an image of the contents of a book shelf.

13. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the instructions for acquiring an image of one or more of the objects via the mobile communications device comprise instructions for acquiring an image of the contents each rack of a book shelf having multiple racks.

14. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the instructions for collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device comprise instructions for tracking a location of the device based on local wireless signals.

15. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the instructions for collecting a location of the mobile communications device via the mobile communications device further comprise instructions for reading sensor signals from one or more accelerometers hosted within the mobile communications device.

16. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 9, further comprising:

instructions for acquiring another image of the one or more objects at the mobile communications device;

instructions for transmitting the other image to the server from the mobile communications device; and

instructions for receiving from the server at the mobile communications device an identification of the one or more objects.

17. A mobile communications device for tracking an inventory of objects, comprising:

a wireless communications unit for communicating over a wireless network;

an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image of an object; and

a processor configured to run computer-executable instructions stored on and read from a non-transient computer-readable medium, the instructions being adapted to cause the processor to send, over the wireless network via the wireless communication unit, the acquired image and a location of the object to a remote server so as to provide an inventory of the object based on a computerized recognition of the object.

18. The mobile communications device according to claim 17, wherein the instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to receive from the remote server over the wireless network an identification of the object.

19. The mobile communications device according to claim 17, wherein the instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to determine a location of the mobile communications device using detected local wireless signals, and to determine a location of the object based on the determined location of the mobile communications device.

20. The mobile communications device according to claim 17, further comprising one or more accelerometers, and wherein the instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to determine a location of the mobile communications device via a reading of the one or more accelerometers, and to determine a location of the object based on the determined location of the mobile communications device.