Method and apparatus for monitoring unit depletion in an independent real-time mass storage unit system by using an estimated tare mass of the item

• US 7,937,289 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Issued: 05/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maplebear Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Masterson, Michael Lee, Watt, Stephen James, Bodin, William Kress
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender; F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Champagne; Luna
• Application Number:
  US11/467,214
• Publication Number:
  US 20080052037A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,712 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for estimating, refining, and using the tare mass for an item to determine and monitor item depletion. In response to detecting an initial presence of an item in the storage unit, a controller collects data about the item. The controller then searches a database for a recorded item containing the same item identification. The tare mass of the item is set equal to the refined tare mass of the recorded item retrieved from the database. The tare mass is then used to calculate a depletion threshold for the item.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for monitoring the mass depletion of an item in a storage unit, the computer implemented method comprising:

responsive to detecting, by a processor of a computer, an initial presence of an item in the storage unit, collecting data about the item, wherein the data include an item identification and a product type; and

responsive to detecting, by the processor, the presence of the item resting on a portion of a plurality of mass sensors arranged in a grid of mass sensors of a first mass sensor shelf of the storage unit, collecting an initial mass of the item by adding up the total increase in mass measured by the portion of the grid of mass sensors on which the item is resting;

searching, by the processor, a database for a recorded item containing the same item identification;

retrieving, by the processor, a total mass of the recorded item from a database;

comparing, by the processor, the initial mass of the item with the total mass of the recorded item; and

responsive to a difference of less than a predetermined amount between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the recorded item, setting, by the processor, a tare mass of the item equal to a tare mass of the recorded item retrieved from the database;

responsive to detecting, by the processor, the item has been removed from the first mass sensor shelf and replaced in the storage unit on the first or a second mass sensor shelf, collecting a current mass of the item; and

determining, by the processor, a mass depletion of the item as the current mass of the item minus the tare mass of the item; and

responsive to the mass depletion of the item reaching a threshold depletion, alerting a user.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a difference between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the recorded item that is greater than a predetermined amount, prompting a user to confirm the identity of the item; and

responsive to a positive confirmation of the item, calculating the tare mass of the item as (Tr/R_tot)/Ii, wherein Tr is a tare of the recorded item, R_tot is a total mass of the recorded item and Ii is the initial mass of the item.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to an absence of the recorded item in the database, prompting a user to provide a net weight of the item, an instruction to search for a similar item, or an instruction to estimate the tare mass of the item.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein responsive to the user providing the net weight of the item, the tare mass of the item is set equal to the initial mass of the item minus the net weight of the item.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein based on the system finding a similar item, the tare mass of the item is set equal to a tare mass of the similar item, provided that the difference between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the similar item is less than a predetermined amount.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein the difference between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the similar item is greater than a predetermined amount, the system calculates the new tare mass of the item as follows:

((Ts/S_tot) * li), wherein Ts is a tare mass of the similar item, S_tot is a total mass of the similar item, and li is the initial mass of the item.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein responsive to the user providing the instruction to estimate the tare mass of the item, calculating the tare mass of the item as a predetermined percentage of the initial weight of the item.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to an absence of the recorded item, searching for a recorded similar item.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to detecting the last measured mass of the item has occurred, setting the recorded tare mass of the item equal to a simple average, the last measured mass of the item, or ((No * Tr+I1) / (No+1), wherein No is the number of occurrences of the item, Tr is the recorded tare mass of the item, and I1 is the last measured mass of the item.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the portion comprises all grid mass sensors upon which the footprint of the item is resting.

21. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein each mass sensor of the plurality of mass sensors arranged in the grid of mass sensors of the first mass sensor shelf and the second mass sensor shelf are separate and isolated from every other mass sensor.

22. The computer implemented method of claim 21 wherein each dimension of surface area of each mass sensor is between one and two centimeters.

23. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein each mass sensor of the plurality of mass sensors arranged in the grid of mass sensors of the first mass sensor shelf and the second mass sensor shelf measures the mass of the item wholly or partially based on a footprint of the item.

10. A computer program product for monitoring the mass depletion of an item in a storage unit, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code tangibly embodied thereon, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code for responsive to detecting an initial presence of an item in the storage unit, collecting data about the item, wherein the data include an item identification and a product type; and

computer usable program code for responsive to detecting the presence of the item resting on a portion of a plurality of mass sensors arranged in a grid of mass sensors of a first mass sensor shelf of the storage unit, collecting an initial mass of the item by adding up the total increase in mass measured by the portion of the grid of mass sensors on which the item is resting;

computer usable program code for searching a database for a recorded item containing the same item identification;

computer usable program code for retrieving a total mass of the recorded item from a database;

computer usable program code for comparing the initial mass of the item with the total mass of the recorded item; and

computer usable program code for setting a tare mass of the item equal to a tare mass of the recorded item retrieved from the database, responsive to a difference of less than a predetermined amount between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the recorded item; and

computer usable program code for monitoring mass depletion of the item, wherein responsive to detecting that the item has been removed from the first mass sensor shelf and replaced in the storage unit on the first or a second mass sensor shelf, collecting a current mass of the item; and

computer usable program code for determining a mass depletion of the item as the current mass of the item minus the tare mass of the item; and

computer usable program code for responsive to the mass depletion of the item reaching a threshold depletion, alerting a user.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for prompting a user to confirm the identity of the item, responsive to a difference between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the recorded item that is greater than a predetermined amount; and

computer usable program code for calculating Tm=(Tr/R_tot) * Ii, wherein, Tm is the tare mass of the item, Tr is a tare of the recorded item, R_tot is a total mass of the recorded item, and Ii is the initial mass of the item, responsive to a positive confirmation of the item identity.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for prompting the user to provide a net weight of the item, an instruction to search for a similar item, or an instruction to estimate the tare mass of the item, responsive to an absence of the recorded item in the database.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for setting the tare mass of the item equal to the initial mass of the item minus the net weight of the item, responsive to the user providing the net weight of the item.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for setting the tare mass of the item equal to a tare mass of the similar item, provided that the difference between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the similar item is less than a predetermined amount, responsive to the system finding a similar item.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for calculating T=Ts/S_tot) * Ii, wherein T is the tare mass of the item, Ts is a tare mass of the similar item, S_tot is a total mass of the similar item, and Ii is the initial mass of the item, responsive to the difference greater than a predetermined amount between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the similar item.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for calculating the tare mass of the item as a predetermined percentage of the initial weight of the item, responsive to receiving the instruction to estimate the tare mass of the item.

17. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code setting the recorded tare mass of the item equal to a simple average, the last measured mass of the item, or (No * Tr+I1) / No+1, wherein, No is the number of occurrences of the item, Tr is the recorded tare mass of the item, and I1 is the last measured mass of the item, responsive to detecting the last measured mass of an item has occurred.

18. An apparatus for monitoring the mass depletion of an item in an independent storage system, the apparatus comprising:

a user interface;

a tag reader; and

a controller, wherein the controller further comprises;

a bus;

a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device contains a computer usable program product; and

a processor unit, wherein the processor unit executes the computer usable program product to detect an initial presence of an item in the storage unit and responsive to detecting the initial presence of the item in the storage unit, collect data about the item, wherein the data include an item identification and a product type; and

responsive to detecting the presence of the item resting on a portion of a plurality of mass sensors arranged in a grid of mass sensors of a first mass sensor shelf of the storage unit, collect an initial mass of the item by adding up the total increase in mass measured by the portion of the grid of mass sensors on which the item is resting;

search a database for a recorded item containing the same item identification;

retrieve a total mass of the recorded item from a database;

compare the initial mass of the item with the total mass of the recorded item; and

responsive to a difference of less than a predetermined amount between the initial mass of the item and the total mass of the recorded item, set a tare mass of the item equal to a tare mass of the recorded item retrieved from the database; and

responsive to detecting the item has been removed from the first mass sensor shelf and replaced in the storage unit on the first or a second mass sensor shelf, collect a current mass of the item; and

determine a mass depletion of the item as the current mass of the item minus the tare mass of the item; and

responsive to the mass depletion of the item reaching a threshold depletion, alert a user.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor unit executes the computer usable program product to set the recorded tare mass of the item equal to a simple average, the last measured mass of the item, or (No * Tr+I1) / No+1, wherein, No is the number of occurrences of the item, Tr is the recorded tare mass of the item, and I1 is the last measured mass of the item, responsive to detecting the last current mass of an item has occurred.