US 12,450,558 B2
Systems and methods of selecting an image from a group of images of a retail product storage area
Lingfeng Zhang, Dallas, TX (US); Mingquan Yuan, Flower Mound, TX (US); Paul Lewis Lobo, Irving, TX (US); Avinash M. Jade, Bangalore (IN); Zhichun Xiao, Plano, TX (US); William Craig Robinson, Jr., Centerton, AR (US); Zhaoliang Duan, Frisco, TX (US); Wei Wang, Dallas, TX (US); Han Zhang, Allen, TX (US); Raghava Balusu, Achanta (IN); and Tianyi Mao, Chicago, IL (US)
Assigned to Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed by Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed on Oct. 11, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/963,787.
Prior Publication US 2024/0119735 A1, Apr. 11, 2024
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/087 (2023.01); G06V 10/25 (2022.01); G06V 10/762 (2022.01); G06V 20/00 (2022.01); G06V 20/52 (2022.01)
CPC G06Q 10/087 (2013.01) [G06V 10/25 (2022.01); G06V 10/762 (2022.01); G06V 20/36 (2022.01); G06V 20/52 (2022.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for monitoring inventory of a product storage facility, the system comprising:
an image capture device having a field of view that includes a product storage area of the product storage facility having products arranged therein, wherein the image capture device is configured to:
move about the product storage area; and
capture a plurality of images of the product storage area from a plurality of viewing angles; and
a computing device including a control circuit, the computing device being communicatively coupled to the image capture device, the control circuit being configured to:
obtain the plurality of images of the product storage area captured by the image capture device;
process each of the obtained images of the product storage area to detect individual ones of each of the products captured in each of the obtained images;
based on detection of the individual ones of each of the products captured in each of the obtained images, identify at least a first product storage structure located in the product storage area that stores a first group of identical products thereon;
calculate, for each pair of consecutively captured images of the plurality of images, location information representing a difference in depicted locations between the pair of consecutively captured images;
generate, based on the location information, a set of images of the plurality of images that each at least partially depict the first product storage structure;
generate a modified set of images comprising the set of images and a plurality of virtual bounding boxes, each virtual bounding box of the plurality of virtual bounding boxes surrounding an individual product depicted in the set of images;
process the modified set of images using a clustering algorithm to determine a first group of bounding boxes of the plurality of virtual bounding boxes representative of the first group of identical products;
based on the first group of bounding boxes, identify and select a single image that fully shows the first product storage structure and fully shows each of the products in the first group of identical products stored on the first product storage structure; and
transmit the single image to an electronic database for use in monitoring inventory at the product storage facility.