Weighing Device for Frictionless Pick and Go Shopping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Pick&Go shopping systems fail to efficiently and accurately sell products by weight due to lack of well-separated steps, individualized customer behavior, and regulatory compliance, leading to inaccurate weighing and pricing, high equipment costs, and frictionless commerce limitations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that automatically identify the start and end of a weighing event using sensors and cameras, allowing products to be weighed without user interaction, providing real-time pricing and ensuring regulatory compliance through a legal-for-trade weighing device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional weighing and pricing processes are used in Pick&Go shopping, then regulatory compliance and measurement accuracy are ensured, but user interaction requirements increase and frictionless commerce is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The weighing device automatically detects when a customer places products on it and when they remove products, triggering weighing and pricing operations without any user interaction. The system serves itself by monitoring weight changes and autonomously determining when to start and end weighing events, eliminating the need for customers to press buttons or indicate their intentions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations (customers placing items and pressing buttons) with automated sensor-based detection. Optical sensors and weight sensors continuously monitor the weighing platform, automatically detecting product placement and removal events, thereby substituting mechanical user actions with automated electronic detection systems.
2Extent of automation
If automated weighing detection is implemented without user interaction, then frictionless shopping is achieved, but reliability of pricing determination deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors weight changes on the weighing platform and uses this feedback to automatically determine when a weighing event starts and ends. The weighing device receives real-time weight data, compares it against threshold values, and triggers pricing operations only when stable weight changes indicate completed customer actions, ensuring reliable automated pricing determination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of weight changes before finalizing pricing operations. It monitors the weighing platform continuously, pre-identifies potential weighing events through weight threshold crossings, and validates them before triggering pricing, ensuring that only genuine customer actions result in charges.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple customers share the same shopping basket, then shopping flexibility is improved, but difficulty in determining individual product ownership increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each customer is equipped with a portable terminal device that independently communicates with the weighing device. The system self-services each customer by establishing individual communication channels, allowing automatic identification and pricing for each person's selected products without requiring manual intervention or complex ownership verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable terminal device acts as an intermediary between the customer and the weighing device. It receives weight change notifications, identifies the customer's selected products, and coordinates pricing operations, thereby mediating the interaction between multiple customers sharing a basket and the automated weighing system.
4Loss of information
If traditional weighing devices with displays are used, then price information is provided to customers, but equipment costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The display function and pricing information provision are extracted from the weighing device and relocated to the customer's portable terminal device. The weighing device only needs to perform weighing and send data, while the terminal device handles display and information presentation, thereby simplifying the weighing device structure and reducing its complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable terminal device serves multiple functions: it acts as a customer identifier, receives weighing notifications, displays pricing information, and coordinates payment operations. By making the terminal device multi-functional, the system eliminates the need for dedicated display equipment at the weighing station, reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to methods, devices, systems, and computer programs in the field of frictionless commerce, in particular Pick&Go shopping, for selling a product (item, good, etc.) that needs to be weighed for determining a selling price. In particular, a method 100 for determining a weight of a product 3 that is sold by weight is provided, wherein a quantity of the product 3 is laid out openly and loads a weighing device 10. The method comprises a step of determining a difference weighing value by determining a difference between a starting weighing value and an ending weighing value, wherein the difference weighing value represents a decrease in the quantity of the product. Further, a method 200 for selling a product 3 that is sold by weight and a method for determining a price of a product 3 that is sold by weight are provided, these methods comprising a method 100 for determining a weight of a product 3 that is sold by weight and a step S11 of determining a price on the basis of the difference weighing value.