Patent ID: 8468066

Claim:
An inventory and asset management system, comprising: a set of one or more shelves constructed to holding inventory items; a set of one or more wireless network cameras directed to the shelves so that each camera is arranged to take an image of a section of shelving, each one or more of the cameras operating solely from battery power comprising: an imaging sensor for taking images; a radio transceiver for connecting to a wireless network and constructed to be normally deactivated; a low-power timer coupled to the radio transceiver and constructed to activate the radio transceiver from time to time; a sleep mode, wherein the sleep mode allows the camera to operate at minimal power consumption by deactivating many components in the camera; a processor coupled to and managing the operation of the imaging sensor, radio transceiver, and low-power timer, wherein the low-power timer activates a node radio that generates a signal request from a central computer; a memory coupled to the processor for storing images captured by the imaging sensor and for providing memory for applications and processes performed by the processor; a battery backup providing for full operational power for the imaging sensor, radio transceiver, memory, and processor; and a central computer constructed to operating the steps of: receiving an image from one of the cameras, of the image showing the inventory items on the a section of the shelving; and analyzing the image to determine an inventory status wherein the camera remains in the power conserving sleep mode until the low-power timer activates the node radio that generates a signal request, and the central computer acknowledges and activates the camera.