TRACKING OBJECTS IN A TWO DIMENSIONAL SPACE

• US 20170337792A1
• Filed: 05/18/2016
• Published: 11/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bermudez Rodriguez, Sergio A., Hamann, Hendrik F., Klein, Levente, van Kessel, Theodore G.
• Granted Patent: US 10,296,768 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10009 sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10099 the directional field being used for pinpointing the location of the record carrier, e.g. for finding or locating an RFID tag amongst a plurality of RFID tags, each RFID tag being associated with an object, e.g. for physically locating the RFID tagged object in a warehouse
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A method for tracking objects in a two-dimensional space includes first tracking devices that are activated to read tagged objects within the reading ranges of the first tracking devices. Second tracking devices are activated to read tagged objects within the reading ranges of the second tracking devices. The tagged objects read by each first tracking device are compared to the tagged objects read by each second tracking device, and based on the locations of the tagged objects read by the first and second tracking devices, the locations of the tagged objects are determined.

Claims

1. A method of tracking tagged objects in a two-dimensional space, comprising:

activating first tracking devices that read tagged objects in the two-dimensional space that are within reading ranges of the first tracking devices, the first tracking devices having non-overlapping reading ranges;

activating second tracking devices that read tagged objects in the two-dimensional space that are within reading ranges of the second tracking devices, the second tracking devices having non-overlapping reading ranges;

comparing tagged objects read by each first tracking device with tagged objects read by each second tracking device; and

determining, in a hardware processor, the locations of the tagged objects in the two dimensional space read by the first and second tracking devices based on the locations of the first and second tracking devices that read the tagged objects.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the locations of the tagged objects comprises designating the tagged objects as being at mean distances between first tracking devices and second tracking devices that read the tagged objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first tracking devices and second tracking devices have reading ranges that overlap the reading ranges of neighboring tracking devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein no common tracking devices exist among the first tracking devices and second tracking devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking devices include radio-frequency identification reading devices and the tagged objects include radio-frequency identification tags, the method further comprising reading identity data that is unique to the radio-frequency identification tags.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information from cameras positioned to take images of the tagged objects in the two-dimensional space.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the tagged objects include light-emitting sources that visually identify the locations of the tagged objects, and the method further comprises synchronizing visual identifications of the locations of tagged objects taken from camera images with the determined locations of the tagged objects read by the first tracking devices and the second tracking devices, wherein visual information-including location determinations of the tagged objects are provided.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the light emitting sources emit light in a pattern that is individual to each of the tagged objects.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the two dimensional space is a surface on which the tagged objects are located.

10. A system for tracking tagged objects in a two-dimensional space, comprising:

a processor including memory;

radio-frequency identification readers arranged in a selected tracking configuration to read tagged objects having radio-frequency identification tags;

a radio-frequency identification reader controller that sequentially activates groups of radio-frequency identification readers in which the readers of the groups have non-overlapping reading ranges;

a radio-frequency identification data collector that matches the tagged objects to the radio-frequency identification readers that read the tagged objects; and

a radio-frequency identification data analyzer that determines the locations of the tagged objects based on locations of the radio-frequency identification readers.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the radio-frequency identification readers are configured to stamp a time at which the radio-frequency identification readers read the tagged objects.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the radio-frequency identification reader controller is configured to store reader information selected from the group consisting of:

locations of each reader;

distances of each reader from its nearest neighboring readers;

distances of each reader from each of the other readers;

the reading range of each reader; and

and combinations thereof.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the radio-frequency identification reader controller is configured to activate the groups of radio-frequency identification readers in a coordinated sequence.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the radio-frequency identification data analyzer is configured to determine the locations of the tagged objects by designating the tagged objects as being at mean distances between the tracking devices that read the tagged objects.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the radio-frequency identification readers are configured to have reading ranges that overlap the reading ranges of neighboring radio-frequency identification readers.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the system further comprises:

cameras that take images of the tagged objects in the two dimensional space; and

a camera image object locator configured to determine the locations of the tagged objects based on the images.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the tagged objects include illuminating light sources.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the camera image object locator is configured to synchronize the determined locations of the tagged objects based on the images with the determined locations of the tagged objects based on locations of the radio-frequency identification readers to provide visual information-including location determinations of the tagged objects.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the tagged objects further comprise a circuit that simultaneously activates the radio-frequency identification tags and the illuminating light sources when the tagged objects are in range of a radio-frequency identification reader.

20. A computer program product for tracking tagged objects in a two-dimensional space, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions being executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

activating first tracking devices that read tagged objects in the two-dimensional space that are within reading ranges of the first tracking devices, the first tracking devices having non-overlapping reading ranges;

activating second tracking devices that read tagged objects in the two-dimensional space that are within reading ranges of the second tracking devices, the second tracking devices having non-overlapping reading ranges;

comparing tagged objects read by each first tracking device with tagged objects read by each second tracking device; and

determining the locations of the tagged objects in the two dimensional space read by the first and second tracking devices based on the locations of the first and second tracking devices that read the tagged objects.