Shopping Basket Weight Verification for Fast, Accurate Payment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shopping payment systems relying on weight sensors and RFID readers are prone to failures, leading to inaccurate product identification and prolonged checkout times, especially when these components malfunction.
Innovation Solution
A shopping payment system and basket equipped with weight sensors on the basket and cash register table, along with a QR code reader, that associates product identification codes with weights, allowing for pre-scanning of products and real-time weight verification to ensure accurate payment without manual scanning at the cash register.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If weight sensors and RFID readers are used for automatic product detection, then checkout speed is improved, but system reliability deteriorates when these components malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-scanning product codes before checkout and pre-measuring weights at the shopping cart. This allows the cash register to only verify and confirm, rather than performing all scanning operations at checkout, thereby maintaining speed even if the final verification step fails.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the cash register receives weight information from the shopping cart and cross-checks it with scanned product codes. When discrepancies are detected, the system can request re-scanning or re-weighing, ensuring reliability while maintaining efficiency through automated verification loops.
2Measurement precision
If manual barcode scanning is performed at the cash register, then measurement precision is maintained, but checkout time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Product barcodes are scanned and weights are measured at the shopping cart before checkout. This preliminary action completes the data collection process early, so that when customers reach the cash register, only verification is needed, dramatically reducing checkout time while maintaining identification accuracy through the same scanning and weighing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The shopping cart performs self-service functions by automatically scanning product codes and measuring weights as customers shop. This eliminates the need for cashiers to manually scan each item, allowing customers to complete the identification process themselves during their shopping trip, thereby reducing checkout time at the register.
3Ease of operation
If weight sensors are mounted on shopping carts, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional sensors and verification systems
Solution Approach 1:
The shopping cart is transformed into a multi-functional device that combines shopping, product identification, and weight measurement functions. By integrating the barcode scanner and weight sensor into the cart, the system eliminates the need for separate verification equipment at the cash register, reducing overall system complexity while improving customer convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The shopping cart performs self-service functions by automatically scanning product codes and measuring weights as customers shop. This eliminates the need for cashiers to manually scan each item, allowing customers to complete the identification process themselves during their shopping trip, thereby reducing checkout time at the register.
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
Facilitates quick and accurate payment by eliminating the need for repeated scanning at the cash register, reducing fraud, and ensuring correct pricing through real-time weight and code matching, thereby minimizing waiting times and errors.
Implementation Method 1
a weight sensor that measures a total weight of the products
Implementation Method 2
a QR code reader that reads a product identification code
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a shopping payment system and shopping basket that allow for correct payment of the purchase price of products in a short time. The shopping payment system includes a product database that store the product identification codes of products, the prices of the products, and the weights of the products such that each of the product identification codes for identifying each product, each of prices of the product, and each of weights of the product are associated with each other, a product identification code acquisition unit that acquires the product identification code of a product read before the product is put into a shopping basket, a registered weight acquisition unit that acquires the weight of the product associated with the product identification code acquired by the product identification code acquisition unit 201, a measured weight acquisition unit that acquires the measured value of the total weight of one or more product put in the shopping basket, a product price payment unit that when the total weight of the products acquired by the registered weight acquisition unit and the measured value of the total weight of the products acquired by the measured weight acquisition unit 203 are matched, pays the purchase price of the products, and an alarm output unit that when the weights are not matched, outputs an alarm message.