IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,136,247
Granted Patent B2
US 12,136,247 · App. 17/825,306 · Granted Nov 5, 2024

Image processing based methods and apparatus for planogram compliance

Inventors: Somedip Karmakar (Karnataka, IN); Souradip Chakraborty (Kolkata, IN); Abhishek Mishra (Bengaluru, IN)
Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
G06V10/443G06T7/11G06T7/73G06V10/54
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,136,247
App. No.
17/825,306
Granted
Nov 5, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

This application relates to automated processes for determining item placement compliance within retail locations. For example, a computing device may obtain an image of a fixture within a store. The image may be captured by a camera with a field of view directed at the fixture. The computing device may apply a segmentation process to the image to determine a portion of the image. Further, the computing device may determine a correlation between the portion of the image and each of a plurality of item image templates. Each item image template may include an image of an item the retail location sells in the retail location. The computing device may determine, based on the correlations, one of the plurality of item image templates and its corresponding item. The computing device may then determine whether the item should be located at the fixture based on a planogram.

Claims (68)

1. A system comprising:

a computing device comprising at least one processor, wherein the computing device is configured to:

obtain an image;

determine a portion of the image based on applying a segmentation process to the image;

determine a correlation between the portion of the image and each of a plurality of item image templates;

determine one of the plurality of item image templates based on the correlations;

generate identification data associating the image to an item corresponding to the determined one of the plurality of item image templates;

store the identification data in a data repository;

determine an item placement location captured within the image;

obtain planogram data;

determine, based on the planogram data, whether the item is assigned to the item placement location; and

transmit a message that indicates the item and the item placement location.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to:

determine that the item is not assigned to the item placement location.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the portion of the image comprises determining tag boundaries within the image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the portion of the image comprises determining corners within the image.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein determining the corners comprises applying a Harris Corner detection model to the image.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to:

obtain image embeddings for each of the plurality of item image templates;

for each of the plurality of item image templates, determine a convolution of the image embeddings across the portion of the image; and

determine one of the plurality of item image templates based on the convolution of the images.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to:

generate a plurality of keypoints based on the portion of the image;

determine a plurality of keypoint scores based on a matching of the plurality of keypoints to keypoints for each of the plurality of item image templates; and

determine one of the plurality of item image templates based on the keypoint scores.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to:

apply a textual extraction process to the portion of the image data to extract image textual data;

apply a textual matching process to the extracted image textual data and to textual information associated with each of the plurality of item image templates to generate a text matching score; and

determine one of the plurality of item image templates based on the text matching scores.

9. A method comprising:

obtaining an image;

determining a portion of the image based on applying a segmentation process to the image;

determining a correlation between the portion of the image and each of a plurality of item image templates;

determining one of the plurality of item image templates based on the correlations;

generating identification data associating the image to an item corresponding to the determined one of the plurality of item image templates;

storing the identification data in a data repository;

determining an item placement location captured within the image;

obtaining planogram data;

determining, based on the planogram data, whether the item is assigned to the item placement location; and

transmitting a message that indicates the item and the item placement location.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

determining that the item is not assigned to the item placement location.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the portion of the image comprises determining tag boundaries within the image.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the portion of the image comprises determining corners within the image.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the corners comprises applying a Harris Corner detection model to the image.

14. The method of claim 9 comprising:

obtaining image embeddings for each of the plurality of item image templates;

for each of the plurality of item image templates, determining a convolution of the image embeddings across the portion of the image; and

determining one of the plurality of item image templates based on the convolution of the images.

15. The method of claim 9 comprising:

generating a plurality of keypoints based on the portion of the image;

determining a plurality of keypoint scores based on a matching of the plurality of keypoints to keypoints for each of the plurality of item image templates; and

determining one of the plurality of item image templates based on the keypoint scores.

16. The method of claim 9 comprising:

applying a textual extraction process to the portion of the image data to extract image textual data;

applying a textual matching process to the extracted image textual data and to textual information associated with each of the plurality of item image templates to generate a text matching score; and

determining one of the plurality of item image templates based on the text matching scores.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause a device to perform operations comprising:

obtaining an image;

determining a portion of the image based on applying a segmentation process to the image;

determining a correlation between the portion of the image and each of a plurality of item image templates;

determining one of the plurality of item image templates based on the correlations;

generating identification data associating the image to an item corresponding to the determined one of the plurality of item image templates;

storing the identification data in a data repository;

determining an item placement location captured within the image;

obtaining planogram data;

determining, based on the planogram data, whether the item is assigned to the item placement location; and

transmitting a message that indicates the item and the item placement location.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 26, 2022
From: CHAKRABORTY, SOURADIP; MISHRA, ABHISHEK; KARMAKAR, SOMEDIP
To: WM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
Reel/Frame 060027/0065 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 26, 2022
From: WM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
To: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
Reel/Frame 060027/0207 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63214639 · Jun 24, 2021
Related Publication 20220415012A1 · Dec 29, 2022