Casino Chip Tray Imaging With Diffused Light for Payout Auditing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Casino gaming systems face challenges in accurately tracking casino chips due to inconsistent lighting and specular reflections, which distort images and hinder computer vision systems from identifying chip denominations effectively.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system with a transparent chip tray and a light-diffusion box that illuminates chips with diffused light, allowing image sensors to capture clear images of chip edges for accurate denomination identification, and a tracking controller to analyze these images and detect discrepancies in chip values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cameras are used to capture chip images from different perspectives, then the system can track chips from various angles, but lighting becomes inconsistent across cameras causing image distortion and identification failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a light diffusion box positioned beneath the chip tray that provides localized, uniform illumination specifically for the chip viewing area. This ensures that each camera captures images with consistent lighting quality, eliminating the lighting inconsistency problem while maintaining multi-angle tracking capability. The diffusion box creates a controlled lighting environment that is optimized for the specific task of chip identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The light diffusion box acts as an intermediary element between the light sources and the chips. It diffuses the light before it reaches the chips and camera lenses, preventing direct light paths that cause glare and specular highlights. This intermediary component ensures uniform light distribution across all camera views, resolving the contradiction between multi-angle tracking and identification accuracy.
2Device complexity
If standard lighting is used to illuminate chips, then the system structure remains simple, but specular reflections and glare distort images making computer vision analysis difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The light diffusion box serves as an intermediary that transforms standard lighting into diffused, uniform illumination. It is positioned between the light sources and the chips, scattering the light to eliminate direct reflections and glare while maintaining adequate illumination. This approach improves image clarity without requiring complex lighting systems, as the diffusion box is a relatively simple component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the lighting parameters by introducing diffusion, which alters the directionality and intensity distribution of the light. Instead of using direct, focused light sources that cause reflections, the system uses diffused light with softer, more uniform characteristics. This parameter change eliminates specular highlights while maintaining sufficient illumination for accurate chip identification.
3Ease of operation
If images are captured under dynamic casino lighting conditions, then the system can operate in real gaming environments, but lighting inconsistency causes image distortion that prevents reliable chip identification
Solution Approach 1:
The light diffusion box creates a localized controlled lighting environment beneath the chip tray, isolating the chip imaging area from the dynamic casino lighting conditions. This localized control ensures consistent illumination for chip identification while allowing the rest of the casino environment to remain dynamic and unchanged, maintaining real-time operation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The diffusion box acts as a buffer or intermediary that shields the chip imaging process from external lighting variations in the casino environment. It ensures that the light reaching the chips and cameras comes from a controlled, diffused source rather than the dynamic ambient casino lighting, thereby maintaining both real-time operation and identification accuracy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides precise tracking of chip values and detects errors in chip placement, enhancing the accuracy of wagering game management and dealer accountability.
Implementation Method 1
A gaming system with a transparent chip tray and a light-diffusion box that illuminates chips with diffused light, allowing image sensors to capture clear images of chip edges
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for auditing chip transactions at a gaming table are disclosed. An image of chips held in a chip tray is captured via an image sensor. An electronic processor analyzes the image to determine a first monetary value of the chips based on denomination identifiers and a physical dimension of the chips. The system also determines the outcome of a wagering game taking place at the table and calculates an expected second monetary value of the chips based on the game outcome. The actual first monetary value is compared to the expected second monetary value. If a discrepancy between the values is identified, a warning is generated. This provides for real-time verification of payouts and collections by the dealer.