US 12,084,104 B1
Capacitive sensor for item identifying mobile apparatus
Rachid M Alameh, Crystal Lake, IL (US); and Stephen Ernest O'Dea, Bedford, MA (US)
Assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc., , WA (US)
Filed by Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed on Dec. 6, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/543,604.
Int. Cl. G08B 13/14 (2006.01); B62B 3/14 (2006.01); G06Q 10/087 (2023.01)
CPC B62B 3/1488 (2013.01) [B62B 3/1472 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A shopping cart comprising: a frame comprising: a bottom having a perimeter; and one or more sides coupled to and extending upward from the perimeter of the bottom, the bottom and the one or more sides defining a basket; a handlebar coupled to the frame at an upper edge of the basket; an imaging system coupled to the frame adjacent the handlebar, the imaging system comprising: a housing comprising a capacitive sensor disposed thereon; and an imaging device positioned within the housing and configured to capture image data of an environment surrounding the housing, the imaging device having a first focal length and a second focal length, the first focal length shorter than the second focal length; one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: receiving first image data from the imaging device using the first focal length; receiving capacitive sensor data from the capacitive sensor indicative of a presence of an item within a threshold distance of the imaging system; causing the imaging device to capture second image data using the second focal length in response to the capacitive sensor data; determining that the second image data includes a representation of an item being placed into the basket; and storing an association between the representation of the item and a virtual listing of items associated with a user operating the shopping cart.