WEBROOMING WITH RFID-SCANNING ROBOTS
First Claim
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1. ) An inventory locating system comprising:
- a plurality of RFID tags attached to retail items;
a high gain antenna attached to a platform;
means for the RFID tags to respond to a radio frequency interrogation signal from the antenna;
positioning means for autonomous positioning of the antenna in a scan pattern;
platform locating means for determining the position of the antenna relative to remotely positioned reference points;
tag locating means for determining the location of the RFID tags relative to the reference points;
reading means for reading a unique item identifier from each of the plurality of RFID tags;
product search means for a web-based product search;
and means for relating the unique item identifiers from the plurality of RFID tags to the web-based product search.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to systems, methods, and devices for using RFID-tagged items for omnichannel shopping and automatically reading and locating those items. Robots for automated RFID reading are disclosed. The present invention discloses Webrooming 2.0 (WR2.0) which will offer shoppers new views and tools. WR2.0 offers shoppers a bird'"'"'s eye view of equivalent items in local retail stores. WR2.0 tools empower shoppers with preemptive purchasing power: the ability to redirect their online purchases from any online web store to a local retail store.
118 Citations
20 Claims
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1. ) An inventory locating system comprising:
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a plurality of RFID tags attached to retail items; a high gain antenna attached to a platform; means for the RFID tags to respond to a radio frequency interrogation signal from the antenna; positioning means for autonomous positioning of the antenna in a scan pattern; platform locating means for determining the position of the antenna relative to remotely positioned reference points; tag locating means for determining the location of the RFID tags relative to the reference points; reading means for reading a unique item identifier from each of the plurality of RFID tags; product search means for a web-based product search; and means for relating the unique item identifiers from the plurality of RFID tags to the web-based product search. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. ) A mobile RFID tag-scanning platform comprised of:
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sensing means to sense remote reference points; control means to control the platform to instantaneous positions to form a scan pattern using data from the sensing means; collision avoidance means to avoid collisions with obstacles; antenna means attached to the platform for forming radio waves into a primary lobe that extends along an instantaneous vector from the platform; means to remotely energize and collect identifiers from RFID tags that are attached to retail items and located along the vector; means to store the identifiers with reference to the instantaneous positions and instantaneous vectors; means to transmit the stored identifiers to a remote server that relates the identifiers to a shopper'"'"'s web searches. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. ) A system for finding desired retail items comprising:
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a graphical user interface (GUI) for shopping for the retail items; interest expression means for a shopper using the GUI to express interest in an item to a recommendation engine; the items having at least one product identifier; scanning means for automatically scanning retail store inventories for the presence and location of RFID tags; relating means for relating at least one of the scanned items'"'"' identifiers to an item of interest; ranking means for ranking the related items using relational criteria; indicating means for indicating the top ranked items to the shopper. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification