METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHELF FEATURE AND OBJECT PLACEMENT DETECTION FROM SHELF IMAGES
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of detecting a back of a shelf for supporting objects, comprising:
- obtaining, by an imaging controller, an image depicting a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back;
decomposing, by the imaging controller, the image into a plurality of patches;
for each patch;
generating a feature descriptor;
based on the feature descriptor, assigning one of a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification to the patch;
generating a mask corresponding to the image, the mask containing an indication of the classification assigned to each of the patches; and
presenting the mask to a gap detector for detection of gaps from the mask.
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Abstract
A method of detecting a back of a shelf for supporting objects includes: obtaining an image depicting a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back; decomposing the image into a plurality of patches; for each patch: generating a feature descriptor; based on the feature descriptor, assigning one of a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification to the patch; generating a mask corresponding to the image, the mask containing an indication of the classification assigned to each of the patches; and presenting the mask.
54 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of detecting a back of a shelf for supporting objects, comprising:
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obtaining, by an imaging controller, an image depicting a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back; decomposing, by the imaging controller, the image into a plurality of patches; for each patch; generating a feature descriptor; based on the feature descriptor, assigning one of a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification to the patch; generating a mask corresponding to the image, the mask containing an indication of the classification assigned to each of the patches; and presenting the mask to a gap detector for detection of gaps from the mask. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of detecting, by an imaging controller, gaps in an image of a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface for supporting objects extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back, the method comprising:
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obtaining, by the imaging controller, a mask generated from the image and containing indications, for each of a plurality of areas of the mask, of a classification assigned to the area and selected from a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification; obtaining, by the imaging controller, a location of the shelf edge within the mask; generating, by the imaging controller, a gap mask identifying a subset of the areas having shelf back classifications as gaps on the shelf, by; selecting an area of the mask within a predetermined distance of the shelf edge location and having the shelf back classification; and generating a joining area between the selected area and the shelf edge location; and assigning a gap classification to the selected area and the joining area; and presenting the gap mask. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A server for detecting a back of a shelf for supporting objects, comprising:
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a memory storing an image depicting a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back; and an imaging controller comprising; a pre-processor configured to decompose the image into a plurality of patches; a back of shelf detector configured, for each patch, to; generate a feature descriptor; based on the feature descriptor, assign one of a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification to the patch; generate a mask corresponding to the image, the mask containing an indication of the classification assigned to each of the patches; the back of shelf detector further configured to present the mask.
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18. A server for detecting gaps in an image of a shelf having a shelf edge and a support surface for supporting objects extending from the shelf edge to a shelf back, the system comprising:
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a memory storing a mask generated from the image and mask containing indications, for each of a plurality of areas of the mask, of a classification assigned to the area and selected from a shelf back classification and a non-shelf back classification; and an imaging controller comprising; a shelf edge detector configured to obtain a location of the shelf edge within the mask; a gap generator configured to generate a gap mask identifying a subset of the areas having shelf back classifications as gaps on the shelf, by; selecting an area of the mask within a predetermined distance of the shelf edge location and having the shelf back classification; and generating a joining area between the selected area and the shelf edge location; and assigning a gap classification to the selected area and the joining area; and the gap generator further configured to present the gap mask.
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Specification