Article deduction apparatus, article deduction method, and program
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack precision in automatically determining articles taken out from shelves, which hinders labor reduction efforts in stores and factories.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method utilizing weight change data from sensors and movement data from depth sensors to accurately identify articles removed from shelves, combining these data types to output precise article determination information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If weight sensor data alone is used to determine article removal, then the system is simple to implement, but determination precision is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines weight sensor data and depth sensor data into a unified determination system. The weight sensor detects changes in shelf weight, while the depth sensor captures hand movement information in the shelf-front space. By merging these two data sources, the system achieves high determination precision for identifying removed articles while maintaining reasonable system complexity through the use of commercially available sensors and standard data processing techniques.
2Measurement precision
If multiple types of sensors are used to improve determination precision, then article identification accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The depth sensor serves multiple functions within the system: it detects hand presence in the shelf-front space, tracks hand movement trajectories, identifies grasping actions, and determines the timing of article removal. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized sensors, thereby improving determination precision while controlling device complexity. The weight sensor similarly provides both weight measurement and removal detection functions.
Data Source
AI summary
An article information deduction apparatus (10) includes an acquisition unit (110) and an output unit (120). The acquisition unit (110) acquires data based on a change in a detected value of a weight sensor (30) (hereinafter described as weight change data). For example, the acquisition unit (110) determines data acquired by chronologically arranging data acquired from the weight sensor (30) as weight change data. Further, the acquisition unit (110) acquires data indicating a movement of a hand of a person positioned in a shelf-front space (hereinafter described as movement data). For example, the acquisition unit (110) acquires data acquired by chronologically arranging data output from a depth sensor (40) to the article information deduction apparatus (10) as movement data. The output unit (120) outputs article determination information of the article deduced to be taken out by the hand of the person positioned in the shelf-front space, by using the weight change data and the movement data.