Self-checkout system with readiness awareness

1 . A self-checkout system, comprising:

a housing comprising a base support,

a tower extending vertically upwards from the base support, wherein the tower comprises a first side, a second side, and a third front side,

a back panel coupled with the tower and extending vertically upwards relative to the tower;

a display screen mounted to the back panel;

a counter mounted at the third front side of the tower, wherein the counter comprises a counter support portion arranged beneath the counter and mounted at the third front side of the tower;

an input shelf mounted to the first side of the tower at a first corner of the tower;

an output shelf mounted to the second side of the tower at a second corner of the tower, wherein the output shelf comprises a horizontal curved portion extending orthogonally relative to the base support;

a vertical support member mounted at the third front side of the tower extending between a top surface of the input shelf with a bottom surface of the counter and positioned to couple the input shelf and the counter support portion;

and

a computing system having one or more processors and one or more memory devices storing a program, which, when executed, causes the one or more processors to, individually or collectively, perform an operation, comprising:

receiving data indicating that an impact force has been applied to the self-checkout system;

determining that the self-checkout system has experienced an impact event based at least in part on the data; and

performing a control action in response to determining that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event.

2 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein, in determining that the self-checkout system has experienced an impact event based at least in part on the data, the operation comprises:

determining whether the impact force has achieved an impact threshold; and

determining that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event when the impact force has achieved the impact threshold.

3 . The self-checkout system of claim 2 , wherein the display screen has an accelerometer, and wherein the data indicating that the impact force has been applied to the self-checkout system is received from the accelerometer.

4 . The self-checkout system of claim 2 , wherein, responsive to determining that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event when the impact force has achieved the impact threshold, the operation comprises:

performing a visual confirmation process by comparing a current image captured by one or more cameras of the self-checkout system with a baseline image of the self-checkout system;

detecting whether the self-checkout system has an abnormality based at least in part on the comparing between the current image and the baseline image; and

confirming the impact event when the self-checkout system has the abnormality, and

wherein the control action is performed in response to confirmation of the impact event.

5 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein the data indicating that an impact force has been applied to the self-checkout system comprises a current image captured by one or more cameras of the self-checkout system, and wherein, in determining whether the self-checkout system has experienced an impact event based at least in part on the data, the operation comprises:

comparing the current image captured by the one or more cameras with a baseline image, and

determining that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event when the current image does not correspond with the baseline image.

6 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein, in determining whether the self-checkout system has experienced an impact event based at least in part on the data, the operation comprises:

determining whether a current field of view of a camera mounted to a lane status pole is out of range with respect to a baseline field of view of the camera; and

determining that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event when the current field of view of the camera is out of range with respect to the baseline field of view.

7 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein performing the control action comprises moving a lane blocker to physically close off the self-checkout system.

8 . The self-checkout system of claim 7 , wherein the lane blocker is coupled with an input shelf mounted to the tower and is movable between a retracted position and a deployed position in which the lane blocker physically closes off the self-checkout system.

9 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein performing the control action comprises changing the self-checkout system from a normal mode to a standby mode in which functionality of the self-checkout system is reduced compared to the normal mode or to a shutdown mode in which functionality of the self-checkout system is shut off.

10 . The self-checkout system of claim 9 , wherein the self-checkout system is changed to the standby mode or to the shutdown mode based at least in part on a magnitude of the impact force.

11 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an item scanner having a load cell, and

wherein performing the control action comprises automatically performing recalibration of the load cell of the item scanner.

12 . The self-checkout system of claim 11 , wherein, during recalibration of the load cell, performing the control action further comprises changing a mode of operation of the self-checkout system that prevents a user from scanning items that are priced by weight.

13 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein performing the control action comprises automatically communicating to an operator that that the self-checkout system has experienced the impact event.

14 . The self-checkout system of claim 1 , wherein the input shelf and the output shelf are mounted to opposing corners of the tower.

15 . A self-checkout system, comprising:

a housing comprising a base support,

a tower extending vertically upwards from the base support, wherein the tower comprises a first side, a second side, and a third front side,

a back panel coupled with the tower and extending vertically upwards relative to the tower;

a display screen mounted to the back panel;

a counter mounted at the third front side of the tower, wherein the counter comprises a counter support portion arranged beneath the counter and mounted at the third front side of the tower;

an input shelf mounted to the first side of the tower at a first corner of the tower;

an output shelf mounted to the second side of the tower at a second corner of the tower, wherein the output shelf comprises a horizontal curved portion extending orthogonally relative to the base support;

a vertical support member mounted at the third front side of the tower extending between a top surface of the input shelf with a bottom surface of the counter and positioned to couple the input shelf and the counter support portion;

and

a computing system having one or more processors and one or more memory devices storing a program, which, when executed, causes the one or more processors to, individually or collectively, perform a system readiness check operation, comprising:

receiving a current set of environmental conditions;

selecting a baseline image from a plurality of baseline images, the selected baseline image being associated with a predefined set of environmental conditions that matches or best matches the current set of environmental conditions, the predefined set of environmental conditions being one of a plurality predefined sets of environmental conditions each associated with respective ones of the plurality of baseline images,

wherein the baseline image depicts at least one of the housing, the display screen, the input and output shelves, or the counter, the baseline image is captured by the one or more cameras during the predefined set of environmental conditions;

receiving a current image of the self-checkout system, the current image depicts at least one of the housing, the display screen, the input and output shelves, or the counter, the current image is captured by the one or more cameras during the current set of environmental conditions;

determining that the self-checkout system has experienced a predefined event by comparing the current image with the selected baseline image; and

performing a control action after determining that the self-checkout system has experienced a predefined event.

16 . The self-checkout system of claim 15 , wherein the current and predefined sets of environmental conditions include at least one of: a time of day, a time of year, or outdoor weather conditions, or a lumen level indoors.

17 . The self-checkout system of claim 15 , wherein performing the control action comprises at least one of:

changing the self-checkout system from a normal mode to a standby mode in which functionality of the self-checkout system is reduced compared to the normal mode or to a shutdown mode in which functionality of the self-checkout system is shut off;

moving a lane blocker to physically close off the self-checkout system; or

automatically performing recalibration of a load cell of an item scanner.

18 . The self-checkout system of claim 15 , wherein the system readiness check operation is performed after each user transaction takes place.