Automated Product Locker with Machine Vision Inventory Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Eye care professionals face challenges in managing and dispensing a wide variety of contact lenses, requiring manual inventory control and segregation by attributes, which is inefficient and time-consuming, and there is a need for automated systems to provide real-time access and manage inventory effectively.
Innovation Solution
An automated product locker system with a housing, slidably stowable drawers, visual indicators, and a machine vision system that captures product information, using a controller to inventory products and actuate indicators for easy location, enabling automated inventory control and tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual inventory control and segregation by attributes is used, then lenses can be stored and located, but the process becomes inefficient and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inventory control with an automated vision system that uses optical devices (cameras, scanners) to detect, identify, and track lens positions. The system captures images of lens containers, processes them through image recognition algorithms, and automatically updates inventory databases, eliminating the need for manual tracking and significantly improving efficiency while reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service inventory management where the vision system autonomously monitors lens stock levels, identifies lens locations, and notifies staff when lenses need to be restocked or retrieved. The automated detection and tracking occur without human intervention, allowing the inventory system to serve itself and reduce dependency on manual labor.
2Adaptability or versatility
If many drawers are used to segregate SKUs by attributes, then lens variety can be managed, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal storage system where a single type of drawer or container can hold multiple different lens SKUs through systematic organization and labeling. The vision system recognizes different lens types within the same physical space, eliminating the need for dedicated drawers for each SKU attribute combination. This multi-functional approach maintains adaptability while reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from physical segregation (multiple drawers for different attributes) to information-based segregation (digital tracking and visual identification). By adding the dimension of optical detection and digital inventory management, the system can manage diverse SKUs within a simpler physical structure, as the complexity is handled in the information domain rather than requiring proportional physical complexity.
3Speed
If real-time access to lens inventory is implemented, then patient needs can be met timely, but automated systems are required which increase initial complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The vision system continuously and proactively monitors inventory levels and lens positions in advance, maintaining real-time awareness of stock status. By performing preliminary detection and tracking operations continuously, the system ensures that lens locations and availability are always known, enabling immediate retrieval when needed without requiring complex on-demand detection systems.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated product locker includes a housing and a drawer configured to be slidably stowable within the housing. The defines a storage area for storing product. Visual indicators on the product locker indicate respective positions, i.e., locations of the product within the storage area, so that desired products may located by the user. Upon withdrawal or closure of a door by a user, a machine vision system, such as a camera, may capture information about the product and inventory the product based, at least in part, on the information identified from images of the product obtaining by the machine vision system.