Movable Camera System with Multi-Angle Lighting for Inventory Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current camera systems for inventory monitoring face challenges in capturing sharp images of products due to fixed depth of field limitations, requiring manual intervention and complex algorithms for focus stacking, which can result in glare and distortion, especially when products are positioned at varying depths on shelves.
Innovation Solution
A movable camera system with a processing module that constructs a real-time map of product positions, using multiple cameras and adjustable lighting to reduce glare and improve image quality, allowing for accurate detection of product labels, quantities, and environmental conditions, even when cameras are not stationary relative to the target.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If fixed-focus lens systems are used to focus on shelf edge labels, then label reading clarity is improved, but products at varying depths become out of focus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multiple fixed-focus cameras, each optimized for a specific depth range (foreground, midground, background). This dynamic multi-camera configuration allows the system to adapt to products at varying depths on the shelf, with each camera capturing sharp images of its designated depth zone, thereby resolving the contradiction between label reading clarity and focus depth coverage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If focus stacking is used to capture multiple focus depths, then depth of field coverage is improved, but computational complexity and image distortion increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex focus stacking algorithms, the patent segments the shelf depth into multiple zones and assigns dedicated fixed-focus cameras to each zone. This segmentation approach captures all necessary focus depths simultaneously without requiring post-processing computational stacking, thereby reducing computational complexity while maintaining full depth of field coverage.
3Illumination intensity
If lighting is increased to improve image brightness, then illumination is improved, but glare and reflections increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multiple light sources positioned at different locations around the camera module, with each light source directed at specific areas of the shelf. This local quality approach ensures that each region is illuminated appropriately without creating excessive glare or reflections that would affect the entire image, thereby maintaining image brightness while minimizing harmful optical effects.
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 enables accurate and efficient monitoring of inventory, including product positioning, labeling, and environmental conditions, reducing manual intervention and improving image clarity across varying product depths, while minimizing glare and distortion.
Implementation Method 1
dynamically adjusting light output based on at least a focus depth between a camera and a target object
Implementation Method 2
a first light module to emit a first light beam to at least a first portion of the target object at a first light intensity
Data Source
AI summary
An image capture system for tracking target objects includes a movable base that supports one or more image capture modules, each of the image capture modules including a camera module, a first light module and a second light module. The camera module is mounted on a first plane of a mount bracket, the first light module is mounted on a second plane of the mounting bracket, and a second light module is mounted on a third plane of the mounting bracket. The first and second planes define a first angle, the first and third planes define a second angle, and the second angle is larger than the first angle. An output of the first light module and a light output of the second light module is selected based on an operating condition of the camera module.