Activity verification

• US 8,190,498 B1
• Filed: 02/16/2010
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bacco, Edward M., Hiatt, David K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): ORTIZ ROMAN, DENISSE Y
• Application Number:
  US12/706,447
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1666 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• 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 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 11/00 Arrangements, systems or apparatus for checking, e.g. the occurrence of a condition, not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2011/04 related to queuing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/207 Surveillance aspects at ATMs
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 3/00 Alarm indicators, e.g. bells
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19613 Recognition of a predetermined image pattern or behaviour pattern indicating theft or intrusion

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments of systems, methods, and computer programs that facilitate verification of activity in an environment of predefined activity orchestration. Activity is captured on image capture devices in the environment of predefined activity orchestration. The activity is verified to be consistent with the predefined activity orchestration. An event is generated based upon whether the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one processor circuit having a processor and a memory, the processor circuit being operated in association with an environment of predefined activity orchestration, the environment comprising a materials handling facility where a plurality of orders for items are fulfilled and shipped, the materials handling facility including a plurality of inventory locations, each inventory location containing items;

logic executable by the at least one processor circuit that verifies whether an access to one of the inventory locations captured by an image capture device in the environment of predefined activity orchestration is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration, the predefined activity orchestration further comprising a plurality of pick routes stored in a memory, each of the pick routes listing at least one item to be obtained from at least one inventory location in the environment and a route to be followed by an agent through the environment to reach the at least one inventory location; and

logic executable by the at least one processor circuit that generates an event that identifies an inconsistency between the access to the one of the inventory locations and the predefined activity orchestration, the event triggering an implementation of an action, the action being implemented contemporaneously with an occurrence of the an access to the one of the inventory locations.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the access to the one of the inventory locations further comprises taking an item from the inventory location.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the access to the one of the inventory locations further comprises adding an item to the inventory location.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the action further comprises sending a message to an individual associated with the activity.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the action further comprises activating an alarm indicating that corrective action needs to be taken with respect to the activity.

6. A method, comprising the steps of:

capturing an activity with an image capture device in an environment of predefined activity orchestration;

verifying with a processor based system that the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration, the predefined activity orchestration comprising a plurality of pick routes stored in a memory, each of the pick routes listing at least one item to be obtained from at least one inventory location in the environment and a route to be followed by an agent through the environment to reach the at least one inventory location; and

generating an event based upon the activity and the predefined activity orchestration.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the event indicates an inconsistency between the activity and the predefined activity orchestration.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the event triggers an implementation of an action to correct the activity that is inconsistent with the predefined activity orchestration.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the action includes activating an alarm.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the alarm is activated contemporaneously with the occurrence of the activity.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the action includes presenting the activity captured with the image capture device for a manual review.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the activity includes access to one of the inventory locations, wherein verifying with the processor based system that the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration further comprises determining whether an accessed one of the inventory locations corresponds to the predefined one of the inventory locations holding the at least one product associated with the pick route.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the activity includes access to one of the inventory locations, and the predefined activity orchestration further comprises inventory control data, wherein the verifying with the processor based system that the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration further comprises determining whether the access to the inventory location is consistent with the inventory control data.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the predefined activity orchestration includes at least one rule relating to a permissible relative movement of a plurality of entities in the environment, and the activity includes a movement of a first one of the entities relative to a second one of the entities in the environment, and, wherein verifying with the processor based system that the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration includes verifying that the movement of the first one of the entities relative to the second one of the entities in the environment is consistent with the at least one rule.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein the activity includes an individual passing through a checkpoint in the environment, wherein the predefined activity orchestration includes information indicating whether the individual is authorized to pass through the checkpoint, and, wherein verifying with the processor based system that the activity is consistent with the predefined activity orchestration includes verifying that the individual passing through the checkpoint is authorized to pass through the checkpoint.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein verifying that the individual passing through the checkpoint is authorized to pass through the checkpoint includes determining an identity of the individual based on an image captured by the image capture device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining whether the individual has been routed through the checkpoint in accordance with an assigned pick route.