Portable computing device installed in or mountable to a shopping cart
A portable computing device is installed in or mountable to a shopping cart and linked for communication with a hand-held commodity registration apparatus. The portable computing device includes a wireless interface, a camera configured to capture an image, and a processor configured to establish a communication link with the hand-held commodity registration apparatus through the wireless interface, to perform object recognition on objects in the image captured by the camera, and to confirm that the objects recognized in the image correspond to commodities identified in registered commodity data received from the hand-held commodity registration apparatus through the wireless interface.
1. A portable computing device installed in or mountable to a shopping cart, comprising:
a wireless interface;
a camera configured to capture an image; and
a processor configured to:
establish a communication link with a mobile apparatus held by a customer through the wireless interface,
upon receipt of commodity data of a registered commodity from the mobile apparatus, perform object recognition on an image of an object captured by the camera, and to determine whether the recognized object is a commodity corresponding to the received commodity data, and
upon determining that the recognized object is not the commodity corresponding to the received commodity data, control the wireless interface to transmit to the mobile device a request for displaying a message instructing registration of the commodity that is the recognized object.
2. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an interface connected to a sensor mounted in the shopping cart to weigh objects added to the shopping cart, wherein
the processor is configured to perform the object recognition upon detection of changes in weight of the objects in the shopping cart by the sensor.
3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to skip the object recognition and the determination when the received commodity data corresponds to a predetermined commodity.
4. The device according to claim 3 , wherein the processor sets a flag stored in a memory to a first value when the received commodity data corresponds to the predetermined commodity, and the processor skips the object recognition and the determination when the flag is set to the first value.
5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the camera is positioned so that an imaging area of the camera includes an entire perimeter of the shopping cart.
6. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an RFID tag reader-writer having a communication range to detect an RF tag attached to an object placed in the shopping cart.
7. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an RFID tag reader-writer having a communication range to detect an RF tag attached to an object displayed on a commodity shelf, based on which a location of the shopping cart can be determined.
8. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to measure an elapsed time from when the commodity was registered by the mobile apparatus, and determine whether the measured elapsed time exceeds a preset limit before the object recognition is performed.
9. The device according to claim 8 , wherein
upon determining that the measured elapsed time exceeds the preset limit, the processor controls the wireless interface to transmit to the mobile apparatus a request for displaying a message instructing placement of the commodity into the shopping cart.
10. The device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor establishes the communication link so that the device and the mobile device are paired via short-range wireless communication.
11. A method of registering a commodity using a mobile apparatus held by a customer configured to wirelessly communicate with a portable computing device attached to a shopping cart, the method comprising:
capturing an image of an object in the shopping cart using a camera of the portable computing device;
upon receipt of commodity data of a registered commodity from the mobile apparatus, performing object recognition on the image of the object and determine whether the recognized object is a commodity corresponding to the received commodity data; and
upon determining that the recognized object is not the commodity corresponding to the received commodity data, displaying on the mobile apparatus a message instructing registration of the commodity that is the recognized object.
12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
transmitting a request for displaying the message from the portable computing device to the mobile apparatus.
13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
detecting changes in weight of objects in the shopping cart using a sensor mounted in the shopping cart, wherein
the object recognition is performed upon detection of the changes in weight of the objects in the shopping cart.
14. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
skipping the object recognition and the determination when the received commodity data corresponds to a predetermined commodity.
15. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:
setting a flag stored in a memory of the portable computing device to a first value when the received commodity data corresponds to the predetermined commodity, wherein
the object recognition and the determination are skipped when the flag is set to the first value.
16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the camera is positioned so that an imaging area of the camera includes an entire perimeter of the shopping cart.
17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the portable computing device comprises:
an RFID tag reader-writer having a communication range to detect an RF tag attached to an object placed in the shopping cart.
18. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the portable computing device comprises:
an RFID tag reader-writer having a communication range to detect an RF tag attached to an object displayed on a commodity shelf, based on which a location of the shopping cart can be determined.
19. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
measuring an elapsed time starting from when the commodity was registered by the mobile apparatus; and
determining whether the measured elapsed time exceeds a preset limit before the object recognition is performed.
20. The method according to claim 19 , further comprising:
upon determining that the measured elapsed time exceeds the preset limit, displaying on the mobile apparatus a message instructing placement of the commodity into the shopping cart.