System and method for calibration and mapping of real-time location data

• US 9,536,219 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2015
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Zumsteg, Philip, Plocher, Tom, Putrevu, Sriharsha, Vargas, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US14/862,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20160012388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 468 Days
• Field of Search: 235/385, 235/375, 235/492, 235/488, 23547201-47203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06028 using bar codes
• 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 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10712 Fixed beam scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1413 1D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1443 locating of the code in an image
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold

Abstract

A method of mapping the location of at least one object in three dimensional space, relative to an initial point in three dimensional space by an EIR terminal which contains a microprocessor, memory, a scanning device, a motion sensing device, and a communication interface. The method includes scanning a signal of decodable indicia located at a pre-defined area of a physical object, locating the decodable indicia within this signal, decoding the decodable indicia into a decoded message. The decoded message is an identifier for said physical object, which is then displayed. After receiving an interface command, the EIR terminal is placed in mechanical contact with the pre-defined area of the physical object and a first spatial position is stored as a point of origin in the EIR terminal.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a scanner that scans a machine-readable indicia located on an area of a physical object, resulting in receiving data comprising information describing the physical object, wherein a point of origin is set in response to scanning the machine-readable indicia;

a motion sensor configured to detect physical movement of the apparatus; and

a processor that;

identifies, responsive to the physical movement of the apparatus, a spatial position of the apparatus that is determined relative to the point of origin based on a plurality of values received from the motion sensor, and

determines a path of scanning by the apparatus in comparison with the physical object based on the information from the machine-readable indicia.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a first orientation of the apparatus is determined at the point of origin, and wherein, responsive to the physical movement of the apparatus and based on a second plurality of values received from the motion sensor, a second orientation of the apparatus relative to the first orientation is determined.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, responsive to moving the apparatus through three dimensional space relative to the physical object, the processor receives values from the motion sensor representing one of the movement or an orientation of the apparatus in three dimensional space relative to the point of origin, and

wherein the values are stored in memory of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiving the data that describes the physical object is received from one of:

memory of the apparatus or a database external to the apparatus, and

wherein the spatial position of the apparatus is determined by one of the apparatus or a computing device external to the apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a communication interface,

wherein the scanning device is configured to decode the machine-readable indicia into a decoded message, and to output the decoded message,

wherein the communication interface receives the decoded message, displays the information describing the physical object, and utilizes the decoded message to query a resource the communication interface receives a response from the resource,

wherein the received response comprises additional information describing the physical object,

wherein the communication interface displays the additional information describing the physical object, and

wherein the resource is provided by one or more of:

a memory and a client.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the motion sensor is provided by at least three accelerometers measures proper acceleration values of the apparatus in at least three mutually-perpendicular directions.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the motion sensor is provided by at least three accelerometers measures proper acceleration values of the apparatus in at least three mutually-perpendicular directions,

wherein the apparatus determines a change of a spatial position of the apparatus based on proper acceleration values received from the at least three accelerometers;

and

responsive to the apparatus making mechanical contact with the area of the physical object, the point of origin is represented by setting the value of the coordinate to zero n each of the three mutually-perpendicular directions.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the motion sensor is provided by a 9 degree of freedom Inertial Measurement Unit, wherein the 9 degree of freedom Inertial Measurement Unit comprises a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis magnetometer, and a 3-axis gyroscope.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scanner is provided by at least one of:

an optical scanner, a camera, and an RFID reader.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a communication interface comprising a graphical user interface and a wireless network connection that receives the decoded message and the communication interface displays the information describing the physical object.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable indicia comprises at least one of:

a 2D bar code, a 3D bar code, an EPC symbol, and an RFID tag.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the physical object comprises a physical structure for inventory and wherein the information describing the physical object comprises at least one of:

the location of the signal of machine-readable indicia on the physical structure, the number of physical structure surfaces on the physical object, the number of stacks of inventory on each of the physical structure surfaces, and the physical dimensions of the physical object.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the point of origin of the apparatus described by information in the message at the area of the physical object is stored into memory is performed in response to responsive to making contact with the area of the physical object.

14. A method comprising:

scanning machine-readable indicia, wherein the machine-readable indicia is associated with an area of a physical object;

responsive to detecting a communication interface command, storing in memory a first location of an apparatus as a point of origin;

moving the apparatus through three dimensional space relative to the physical object;

responsive to moving the apparatus through three dimensional space relative to the physical object, receiving values from a motion sensor representing a location of the apparatus in three dimensional space relative to the point of origin; and

determining a path of scanning by the apparatus in comparison with the area of the physical object that is associated with the machine-readable indicia.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

storing in the memory a first orientation of the apparatus at the point of origin; and

responsive to moving through three dimensional space relative to the physical object, receiving a second set of values from the motion sensor representing a second orientation of the apparatus in three dimensional space relative to the first orientation; and

retaining the second orientation.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying the path of the apparatus through three dimensional space with a first scan line in a communication interface.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

triggering an alert when the values received have reached a data noise threshold; and

triggering an alert when the threshold has been exceeded.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

responsive to decoding the machine-readable indicia into a decoded message, querying a client using the identifier; and

receiving a response from the client wherein the response comprises descriptive information about the physical object.

19. The method of claim 14,

wherein responsive to detecting a communication interface command, making physical contact with the area of the physical object;

and

responsive to making contact with the area of the physical object, storing in the memory a first location of the apparatus as a point of origin.

20. A method comprising:

scanning machine-readable indicia that is associated with an area of a physical object;

responsive to detecting a communication interface command, storing in memory a first location of an apparatus as a point of origin;

moving the apparatus relative to the physical object;

responsive to moving the apparatus relative to the physical object, receiving values from a motion sensor representing a location of the apparatus relative to the point of origin; and

displaying a path of scanning by the apparatus in a communication interface.