Patent ID: 12205098

The figures use like reference numerals to identify like elements. A letter after a reference numeral, such as “104A,” indicates that the text refers specifically to the element having that particular reference numeral. A reference numeral in the text without a following letter, such as “104,” refers to any or all of the elements in the figures bearing that reference numeral.

The figures depict various embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG.1is a high-level block diagram of a system environment for an item detection system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments.FIG.1includes a shopping cart110, a network120, and a detection system130. The shopping cart110includes one or more cameras160, one or more load sensors170, and a display180. For clarity, only one shopping cart110is shown inFIG.1. However, alternative embodiments of the system environment can have any number of shopping carts110and could include multiple detection systems130. The functions performed by the various entities ofFIG.1may vary in different embodiments. The detection system130manages detection of items being added to (or removed from) a shopping cart110and also identifies the item that was added to (or removed from) the shopping cart110.

The shopping cart120is a vessel that a user can use to hold items as the user travels through a store. The shopping cart110includes a storage area for holding items. Additionally, the shopping cart110includes cameras160, load sensors170, and a display180.

The one or more cameras160capture image data of the storage area of the shopping cart110. Depending on the embodiment, the cameras160may be pointed at the bottom of the shopping cart storage area to view the current contents of the shopping cart110, may be pointed across the opening of the shopping cart110storage area to capture images of items as they are added or removed from the shopping cart110, or the cameras may be set up in some other combination of configurations. As an example, a shopping cart110may include four cameras160, one attached at each corner of the storage area of the shopping cart110. In some configurations, the cameras160record image data continuously as the shopping cart110is in use. In other embodiments, the shopping cart110may include some triggering mechanism, such as a light sensor, an accelerometer, or another sensor to determine that a user is about to add an item to the cart or about to remove an item from the shopping cart110, wherein the triggering mechanism causes the cameras160to begin recording for some amount of time, for example a preset time range.

The one or more load sensors170capture load data for the shopping cart110. In one embodiment, the one or more load sensors170may be scales that detect the weight (i.e., load) of the contents in the storage area of the shopping cart110. The load sensors170can also capture load curves, that is, the load signal produced over time as an item is added to the cart or removed from the cart. The load sensors170may be attached to the shopping cart110in various locations to pick up different signals that may be related to items being added at different positions of the storage area. For example, a shopping cart110may include a load sensor170at each of the four corners of the bottom of the storage area of the shopping cart110. In some embodiments, the load sensors170may record load data continuously as the shopping cart110is in use. In other embodiments, the shopping cart110may include some triggering mechanism, such as a light sensor, an accelerometer, or another sensor to determine that a user is about to add an item to the cart or about to remove an item from the shopping cart110, wherein the triggering mechanism causes the load sensors170to begin recording for some amount of time, for example a preset time range.

The shopping cart110may include a display180through which the user can interact with information about the contents of the cart, such as via an automated checkout system. For example, the user can use a user interface presented on the display180to adjust the items in their shopping list, to view and confirm the items that the detection system130has detected in the storage area of the shopping cart110, or to provide payment information for a checkout process.

In some embodiments, a user can also or alternatively interact with the shopping cart110information through a client device (not shown) such as a personal or mobile computing device, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or desktop computer. In some embodiments, the client device executes a client application that uses an application programming interface (API) to communicate with the shopping cart110through the network120.

The detection system130uses the information obtained from the cameras160and the load sensors170to generate predictions about what items are being held in the storage area of the shopping cart110. The detection system130may be a computing system located on the shopping cart110or some or all functions of the detection system130may execute at a remote system in communication with the shopping cart110. The detection system130uses the image frames captured by the cameras160and the load value captured by the load sensors170as inputs for machine learning models that are trained to identify items that a user has added to the shopping cart110. Additional details of the detection system130are presented in the description ofFIG.2.

The shopping cart110and the detection system130can communicate via the network120, which may comprise any combination of local area and wide area networks employing wired or wireless communication links. In some embodiments, the network120uses standard communications technologies and protocols. For example, the network120includes communication links using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code division multiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples of networking protocols used for communicating via the network120include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol (FTP). Data exchanged over the network120may be represented using any format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensible markup language (XML). In some embodiments, all or some of the communication links of the network120may be encrypted. In some embodiments, the network120may include Bluetooth or near-field communication (NFC) technologies or protocols.

FIG.2is a high-level block diagram of a system architecture for the detection system130, in accordance with one or more example embodiments. The detection system includes various modules and data stores to identify items in the shopping cart110and to train detection and identification models. The detection system130comprises a training data store210, a model training module220, a model store230, an image cache240, a lead data store250, an item detection module260, a sensor fusion module270and a load identification module280. Computer components such as web servers, network interfaces, security functions, load balancers, failover servers, management and network operations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the system architecture. Additionally, the detection system130may contain more, fewer, or different components than those shown inFIG.2and the functionality of the components as described herein may be distributed differently from the description herein.

The training data store210stores data that can be used by the model training module220to train machine learning models for the detection system130. The training data includes load data and image data. The example load data may include load data from a plurality of load sensors170that are coupled to the storage area of a shopping cart. The load data from each load sensor170describes a load imparted by an item in the storage area at a different location of the storage area. Since the load sensors170may be placed in different positions in the storage area of the shopping cart (e.g., at each corner), the differences in load data received from each of the load sensors170when an item is added to the shopping cart110can be helpful for a model to determine where in the cart the item was placed. The example image data may include image frames captured from a plurality of cameras160coupled to the shopping cart. The image data from each camera160depicts the items within a field of view of a portion of the storage area of the shopping cart110. In one embodiment, the load data and image data stored in the training data store210are labeled, for example with an identifier of the item with which it is associated. Labels on the training data also include time stamps that indicate when each load value or image frame was captured. In some cases, labels for the training data may include item identifiers, and bounding boxes (identifying the location of the item in image data). The training data may also be grouped into data sets such that multiple image frames and load data values are used together as training input for an item prediction. For example, images captured within a timeframe from each of the plurality of cameras160attached to the shopping cart110and load data captured within the same or a nearby time frame from each of the plurality of load sensors170may be used together as inputs for training a machine learning model to identify an item in the shopping cart110. Since the training data may be data received over a time period, this may include multiple image frames from each of the cameras160and multiple load values from each of the load sensors170, to represent the information that is collected over a time range during which an item is added to the shopping cart110.

The model training module220trains machine learning models for the detection system130to use for detecting that items have been added to the shopping cart110and for identifying the type of item that is added to the shopping cart110. In various embodiments, the model training module220trains models for use by the sensor fusion module and/or the load identification module280. The model training module220accesses labeled training data from the training data store210. The training data is used to train one or more types of machine learning models. In various embodiments, the model training module220may train rules-based models, neural network classifier models, or another type of model. The model training module220may train a machine learning model that can identify an item type based on input image frames and input load data. Additionally, in some embodiments, the model training module220may train a machine learning model to identify, based on the load data, a set of time frames from which to select image frames for item identification. In one embodiment, the model training module220may train a machine learning model to generate bounding boxes or to otherwise identify the location of an item in the images of the shopping cart110storage area. In some cases, in addition to training models that identify items that are added to the shopping cart110, the model training module may additionally train models to identify items that have been removed from the shopping cart110. Additional information about the model training process is included in the description ofFIG.4.

The model store230stores the models generated by the model training module220. Storing the machine learning models includes storing trained model parameters, such as the weights for trained neural network models. The model training module220may access and update parameters of the models stored in the model store230periodically, as additional training data is received, or when training is otherwise instigated, such as by a system administrator. In some embodiments, trained model parameters from the model store230may be deployed to individual shopping carts110for local item detection. In other embodiments, the shopping carts110may transmit data to the input data from cameras160and load sensors170to a remote detection system130where the models can be accessed at a model store230and used to generate predictions about the items in the shopping cart110.

The image cache240stores image frames received from the one or more cameras160. The images stored in the image cache240include metadata about which camera160captured each image. Additionally, each image may include a timestamp of when the image was captured by the camera160.

The load data store250stores load sensor data received from the one or more load sensors170. The load data includes metadata about which load sensor170captured each data point. Additionally, each data point of load sensor data may include a timestamp of when the data was captured by the load sensor170. Sets of multiple individual load data points in a time series may be referred to herein as a load curve of the data.

In some embodiments, the load data includes an indication of which load sensor generated which portions of the load data. The indication may specifically identify the load sensor. For example, each measurement or set of measurements in the load data may be associated with an identifier for the load sensor that captured the measurement or set of measurements. Alternatively, the indication may include structuring the load data such that load data from a particular load sensor can be implicitly identified based on the positioning of the load data in the structure. For example, the load data may be concatenated into a large set of load data, and the load data from a load sensor is positioned in the concatenation based on a predetermined ordering of the load sensors. In some embodiments, an embedding may be generated for a set of load data from each load sensor, and the embeddings may be concatenated according to a predetermined ordering of the load sensors.

The item detection module260detects that an item has been added to the shopping cart110(or removed from the cart). In one embodiment, the item detection module260may detect that an item has been added to the shopping cart110using inputs from sensors on the shopping cart110. In one embodiment, the item detection module260uses trained machine learning models from the model store to predict that an item has been added or removed from the shopping cart110. In some embodiments, the item detection module260uses information from the image data received from the cameras160that movement has been detected in the shopping cart110to determine that an item has been moved into or out of the cart. Similarly, in some embodiments, the item detection module260may use information from the load sensors, such as detected change in load of the contents of the shopping cart110to determine that an item has been added to or removed from the shopping cart110. In alternative embodiments, the shopping cart110may include additional sensors, such as accelerometers or laser sensors that can be triggered by items being moved into the shopping cart110.

When the item detection module260receives a trigger and determines that an item has been added to the shopping cart110, the item detection module determines a timeframe that should be used by the detection system130to identify the item. In one embodiment, the item detection module260may identify a time range that begins some predetermined amount of time before the item detection occurred and that ends some predetermined amount of time after the item detection occurred. For example, if the item detection module260determines that an item has been added to the shopping cart at time t0the item detection module260may then determine that data within a time range of 200 milliseconds before t0and 200 milliseconds after t0should be used as input to an item recognition model for identifying the item. In another embodiment, the item detection module260may use images and load data received at the time the item was detected as inputs to a machine learning model that determines how broad a time range around the item detection time should be for providing further image and load data to item identification models (e.g., a timestamp detection model that identifies a set of timestamps that are most likely to correspond to the item being placed in the storage area of the shopping cart110). The timeframe determined by the item detection module260makes it possible for the detection system130to analyze only input data that is important for predicting the identity of an item, rather than analyzing all input data as it is received.

In one embodiment, the detection system130provides the load data from the determined time range and the image data from the determined time range to the sensor fusion module270to identify the item that was added to the shopping cart110. The sensor fusion module270provides the load data and image data to a trained item recognition model. The item recognition model may use the load data information to identify the area of the shopping cart110where the item was placed. Relatedly, the item recognition model can use the load data to determine the portions of the image frames in the image data that are likely to include the newly added item. The sensor fusion module270outputs a predicted identification of the item that was added to the shopping cart110. In one embodiment, the sensor fusion module270may use multiple models to identify the item. For example, the sensor fusion module270may apply a model that takes in the load data and the image data from the determined time range and outputs one or more of the input image frames with bounding boxes around the area of the item that was added (or another location identifier). The sensor fusion module270may then apply an image classification model to the portions of the image frames within the bounding boxes to identify the item (e.g., by detecting barcodes in the image data or otherwise analyzing the image data within the bounding boxes).

In another embodiment, the detection system130provides the load data to a load identification module280to predict the identity of the newly added item. The load identification module280obtains the load data that was collected from the load sensors170at time stamps during the time range that was determined by the item detection module260to be related to the item being placed in the shopping cart110. That is, the load identification module280obtains a load curve for each of the load sensors170, where the load curve includes the time series of load data recorded at each of the load sensors170. The load identification module280applies a trained machine learning model that is trained to recognize the identity of the item given the load curve data. The load identification module280outputs the predicted identification of the item.

FIG.3is an illustration of a shopping cart110, in accordance with one or more example embodiments. The shopping cart110includes cameras160A and160B, load sensors170A and170B, a display180, and a storage area310. In various embodiments, more or fewer cameras160and more or fewer load sensors170may be used in a shopping cart110. The storage area310is used to hold items. For example,FIG.3shows a storage area310with two cans, a pineapple, and a carton of milk. The display180may provide information to the user of the shopping cart about the items inside the storage area310, such as a list of the items, the total cost of the shopping cart contents, and any available coupons or discounts associated with the items in the shopping cart110.

FIG.4is a high-level diagram of a process for applying a sensor fusion model430. A sensor fusion model430may be one of the models used by the item recognition module270to predict a classification of the type of item that has been added to the shopping cart110. Training the sensor fusion model430may be managed by the model training module220and may include providing labeled example inputs of image data and load data to the model and then updating the model parameters based on a comparison of the model output to the labels. In the example ofFIG.4, the sensor fusion model430is applied to load measurements410and images420. The example load measurements410include load curves from each of four load sensors170on a shopping cart110that each detected load changes in the shopping cart storage area310when a pineapple was added to the shopping cart. The load measurements410are load data over the course of a timeframe (e.g., each load curve is set of load values taken at timestamps throughout the timeframe) associated with the pineapple being added to the shopping cart110(represented inFIG.4by load curves connecting the load data points). The example images420include sets of In one embodiment, the load measurements410and images420are provided as input to the sensor fusion model430, which outputs a prediction440based on its current weight parameters.

FIG.5is a flowchart illustrating an example method for identifying an item added to a shopping cart110using the load identification module280, in accordance with one or more example embodiments. Alternative embodiments may include more, fewer, or different steps and the steps may be performed in a different order from that illustrated inFIG.5.

The detection system130receives510load data captured by each of a plurality of load sensors coupled to a different location of a storage area of a shopping cart. The load data from each load sensor170(e.g., “partial load data”) comprises a load measurement sensed by the load sensor at each of a series of timestamps. The detection system detects520that an item was added to the storage area of the shopping cart during one or more of the series of timestamps of the load data and identifies530a set of load measurements from each of the plurality of load sensors170during the one or more timestamps when the item is added. The item recognition module270applies540an item recognition model to the load data to generate an item identifier prediction for the item. The item recognition model is a machine learning model that is trained to identify items based on load data from a plurality of load sensors. The item recognition module270may store the generated item identifier prediction for the item.

FIG.6is a flowchart illustrating an example method for training a machine learning model of the sensor fusion module270to identify items added to a shopping cart110, in accordance with one or more example embodiments. Alternative embodiments may include more, fewer, or different steps and the steps may be performed in a different order from that illustrated inFIG.6.

The detection system130accesses610a set of training examples. The training examples may include load data captured from a plurality of load sensors that are coupled to a storage area310of a shopping cart110. The load data from each load sensor (e.g., “partial load data”) of the plurality of load sensors describes a load imparted by an item in the storage area310at a different location of the storage area310. The training examples may also include image data captured by a plurality of cameras160that are coupled to the shopping cart110. The image data from each camera160(e.g., “partial image data”) depicts an item within a field of view of a portion of the storage area310of the shopping cart110. The training examples also include a label comprising an item identifier for the item.

To train the item recognition model, the model training module220accesses620the set of parameters. The model training module220then updates630the set of parameters based on each training example in the set of training examples. Updating the set of parameters may result in an updated set of parameters for the item recognition model. Updating the set of parameters includes applying the item recognition model to the load data and the image data of the training example to generate an item identifier prediction for the item, comparing the item identifier prediction to the item identifier from the label of the training example, and determining one or more new parameter values for one or more parameters in the set of parameters based on the comparison of the item identifier prediction and the item identifier. The detection system130stores640the updated set of parameters on a computer-readable medium for later access and application during model deployment.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the disclosure. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In some embodiments, a software module is implemented with a computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media containing computer program code or instructions, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described. In some embodiments, a computer-readable medium comprises one or more computer-readable media that, individually or together, comprise instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform, individually or together, the steps of the instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable media. Similarly, a processor comprises one or more processors or processing units that, individually or together, perform the steps of instructions stored on a computer-readable medium.

Embodiments may also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments may also relate to a product that is produced by a computing process described herein. Such a product may comprise information resulting from a computing process, where the information is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer program product or other data combination described herein.

The description herein may describe processes and systems that use machine-learning models in the performance of their described functionalities. A “machine-learning model,” as used herein, comprises one or more machine-learning models that perform the described functionality. Machine-learning models may be stored on one or more computer-readable media with a set of weights. These weights are parameters used by the machine-learning model to transform input data received by the model into output data. The weights may be generated through a training process, whereby the machine-learning model is trained based on a set of training examples and labels associated with the training examples. The weights may be stored on one or more computer-readable media, and are used by a system when applying the machine-learning model to new data.

The language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the patent rights be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the patent rights, which is set forth in the following claims.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive “or” and not to an exclusive “or”. For example, a condition “A or B” is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present). Similarly, a condition “A, B, or C” is satisfied by any combination of A, B, and C having at least one element in the combination that is true (or present). As a not-limiting example, the condition “A, B, or C” is satisfied by A and B are true (or present) and C is false (or not present). Similarly, as another not-limiting example, the condition “A, B, or C” is satisfied by A is true (or present) and B and C are false (or not present).