AUTHENTICATION-BASED TRACKING

• US 20180053312A1
• Filed: 08/17/2017
• Published: 02/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alitheon, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alitheon, Inc.
• Inventors: Ross, David Justin, Land, Scot E.
• Granted Patent: US 10,839,528 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/28 involving image processing hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30112 Baggage; Luggage; Suitcase
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/248 involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/292 Multi-camera tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/62 relating to a temporal dimension, e.g. time-based feature extraction; Pattern tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/80 Recognising image objects characterised by unique random patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/07 Target detection

Abstract

Methods and systems integrate digital fingerprint authentication-based identification and location tracking into a single, continuous process in which an authentication-integrated tracking system is simultaneously aware of both the identity and location of each physical object at all times as they move along a conveyance system. Insertion or removal of an object is quickly detected and reported. Rapid reestablishment and continuation of authentication-integrated tracking is enabled in the event of any temporary interruption or failure of tracking in the system. An exemplary system comprises plural tracking units networked together, each tracking unit including a camera or scanner to observe a corresponding field of view, the tracking units arrange to realize a continuous field of view of a physical conveyance system.

Claims

1. A tracking unit apparatus for a tracking system, comprising:

a capture device having a first field of view;

a processor coupled to the capture device to acquire digital image data from the capture device, the image data including image data responsive to a physical object in the field of view, wherein the image data includes at least a portion of a surface of the object;

a memory accessible to the processor and storing executable program code to cause the processor, by executing at least a portion of the program code, to—

analyze the image data to create a digital fingerprint of the object; and

query a datastore using the digital fingerprint to identify the object.

2. The tracking unit of claim 1 including a second capture device coupled to the processor and having a second field of view, wherein the second field of view overlaps or abuts the first field of view so as to leave substantially no gap between the first and second fields of view.

3. The tracking unit of claim 1 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

receive an expected arrival time and identification information of a physical object expected to enter the field of view;

detect an arrival of an object into the field of view;

acquire a digital fingerprint of the arrived object;

compare the digital fingerprint of the arrived object to the received identification information to determine a result; and

take a predetermined action based on the result.

4. The tracking unit of claim 3 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in a case that the digital fingerprint of the arrived object does not sufficiently match the received identification information of the object expected to enter the field of view, send an alert indicating an unrecognized object to a central server or a second tracking unit.

5. The tracking unit of claim 3 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in a case that the digital fingerprint of the arrived object does not sufficiently match the received identification information, query a database using the arrived object digital fingerprint to identify the arrived object, the database storing records of objects previously inducted into a tracking system of which the tracking unit forms a part.

6. The tracking unit of claim 3 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in a case that the digital fingerprint of the arrived object sufficiently matches the received identification information, determine whether an actual arrival time of the arrived object is within a predetermined tolerance of the expected arrival time; and

take a predetermined action based on the determination of the arrival time.

7. The tracking unit of claim 6 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in a case that the actual arrival time of the arrived object is within a predetermined tolerance of the expected arrival time, transmit to a second tracking unit the identifying information and an expected arrival time of the received object at the second tracking unit, wherein the second tracking unit is located downstream of the first tracking unit.

8. The tracking unit of claim 6 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

identify a next downstream tracking unit based on applicable diverter gate information; and

transmit the identifying information and the expected arrival time to the identified next downstream tracking unit.

9. The tracking unit of claim 6 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in the absence of diverter information, transmit to all possible downstream tracking units the identifying information and an expected arrival time of the arrived object at the downstream tracking units.

10. The tracking unit of claim 6 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to—

in an application where there is more than one tracking unit immediately, transmit the identifying information to all of the immediately downstream tracking units.

11. The tracking unit of claim 3 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to send a confirmation to the upstream tracking unit.

12. The tracking unit of claim 3 wherein the executable program code is further configured to cause the processor to reacquire the object after a period of positive control outside a purview of the tracking unit in order to provide data about the object to a downstream tracking unit.

13. A tracking system comprising:

a plurality of tracking units, each of the tracking units capable of data communications over a network with other components of the tracking system;

wherein each tracking unit includes at least one scanner that covers a corresponding field of view, and a TU processor coupled to the scanner to acquire digital image data from the scanner responsive to a physical object located within the corresponding field of view of the scanner;

wherein each tracking unit further includes a memory accessible to the TU processor and storing executable TU program code to cause the TU processor, by executing at least a portion of the TU program code, to analyze the digital image data acquired from a scanner to create a digital fingerprint of the physical object located within the corresponding field of view of the scanner;

wherein a first scanner of each tracking unit is arranged to cover an input region of the tracking unit, to acquire digital image data responsive to a physical object that enters into the input region of the corresponding tracking unit;

wherein each tracking unit has a contiguous field of view covered by the aggregate fields of view of its one or more scanners; and

wherein the tracking units are positionable so that the contiguous fields of view of the tracking units together form a system field of view that covers at least a predetermined portion of a physical system arranged for conveyance of the physical objects, except for zero or more defined regions of positive control within the predetermined portion that are not visible to the system field of view; and

a central server capable of data communications over the network with other components of the tracking system;

the central server coupled to a datastore for storage and querying of records associated with physical objects previously inducted into the tracking system;

and the central server having a server processor and a memory accessible to the server processor and storing executable server program code to cause the server processor, by executing at least a portion of the server program code, to—

receive digital fingerprints over the network from at least one of the tracking units,

store digital fingerprints received from a tracking unit into the datastore,

query the datastore based on a digital fingerprint received from a tracking unit to determine whether it matches one of the records associated with physical objects previously inducted into the tracking system, and

take a predetermined action based on a result of the query.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the executable TU program code is further configured to cause the TU processor to construct and send a message over the network to a next downstream tracking unit, the message including the digital fingerprint or other identifier of the object, and a timestamp.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the executable TU program code is further configured to cause the TU processor to construct and send a message over the network to the central server, the message including the digital fingerprint or other identifier of the object, and a timestamp.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the central server program code further causes the server processor, by executing at least a portion of the server program code, to—

detect a failure of one of the tracking units; and

instruct a different one of the tracking units to take over selected operations in place of the failed tracking unit.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to maintain and update the records in the datastore based on messages received from at least one of the tracking units.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to identify, for the or each tracking unit, a next upstream tracking unit it is to communicate with, and a next downstream tracking unit it is to communicate with.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to monitor “

heart beat”

signals from the one or more tracking units to detect a failure of any of the tracking units.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to maintain data indicating where in the system each physical object having a record in the datastore is designated to go, which tracking unit(s) should capture the object, and in what order, and how diverters in the system must operate to get it to its designated destination.

21. The system of claim 13 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to recover the system from a jam or other loss of positive control of the physical objects previously inducted into the tracking system.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to recover the system by—

sending messages to the or each tracking unit instructing it or each of them to identify each object that passes by it, and to pass that information to downstream tracking units, and return both identification and timing information to the central server;

based on the identification and timing information returned to the central server, determining which of the physical objects to keep going as they are, which need to be diverted and which need manual attention because the tracking system is unable to dynamically direct them to their designated destination; and

transmitting messages over the network to the or each tracking unit to effect the determinations.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to—

determine whether all of the physical objects in the system have been successfully identified and located at respective locations; and

based on a positive result of the determination, send messages to the tracking units to return to a pre-exception condition.

24. The system of claim 13 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to detect a loss-of-control event in the system.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to identify all of the objects in the system that are affected by the detected loss-of-control event.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to send a message over the network identifying all of the objects in the system that are affected by the detected loss-of-control event.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the executable server program code is further arranged to cause the server processor to notify selected tracking units, over the network, for each of the identified objects in the system that are affected by the detected loss-of-control event, where the selection is based on selecting downstream tracking units so that the identified objects may be conveyed along the physical system to their respective destinations in accordance with the records stored in the datastore.

29. The system of claim 13 wherein the executable server program code is further configured to receive a message over the network indicating aggregation of two or more of the physical objects in the system, and the server program code causes the server processor to execute a predetermined aggregation routine for tracking the aggregated objects as a single object.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the executable server program code is further configured to update the records stored in the datastore corresponding to the aggregated objects to reflect the aggregation.