SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REALTIME OCCUPANCY DETECTION OF VEHICLES APPROACHING RETAIL SITE FOR PREDICTIVE ORDERING
First Claim
1. A method of managing a retail site, comprising:
- monitoring an access area to an ordering point of the retail site;
identifying the presence of a vehicle entering the access area of the retail site;
detecting a number of occupants of the vehicle;
transmitting the number of occupants to a production management engine; and
generating, via the production management engine, a set of dynamically generated production instructions based on the detected number of occupants to manage a production process of the retail site.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for realtime occupancy detection of vehicles approaching a retail site for predictive ordering. A restaurant or other retail site can maintain access areas, such as a drive through lane or parking area, which vehicles can approach to order food or other items. A set of sensors can detect the vehicles, and estimate the number of occupants in those vehicles. Detection techniques can include face detection technology, seat detection technology, thermal imaging, or others. The number of occupants can be estimated and sent to a production management engine monitoring the site. That engine can responsively issue production instructions, such as a number and type of food items to prepare, and when. By integrating an operational model of the site, including projected order amounts and types, with the realtime occupant count, more accurate matching of food or other production to customer demand can be achieved.
15 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of managing a retail site, comprising:
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monitoring an access area to an ordering point of the retail site; identifying the presence of a vehicle entering the access area of the retail site; detecting a number of occupants of the vehicle; transmitting the number of occupants to a production management engine; and generating, via the production management engine, a set of dynamically generated production instructions based on the detected number of occupants to manage a production process of the retail site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A production management system for a retail site, comprising:
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an interface to a set of sensors to detect occupants of a vehicle; and a processor, communicating with the set of sensors via the interface, the processor being configured to monitor an access area to an ordering point of the retail site via the set of sensors, identify the presence of a vehicle entering the access area of the retail site, detect a number of occupants of the vehicle, receive the detected number of occupants, and generate a set of dynamically generated production instructions to manage a production process of the retail site based on the detected number of occupants. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification