US 12,147,932 B2
Traceability system for bulk commodity supply chain
Vaishnavi Nattar Ranganathan, Woodinville, WA (US); Upinder Kaur, West Lafayette, IN (US); Peeyush Kumar, Seattle, WA (US); Ranveer Chandra, Kirkland, WA (US); Michael McNab Bassani, Seattle, WA (US); and Vishal Jain, Bengaluru (IN)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on Jan. 13, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/647,924.
Prior Publication US 2023/0222433 A1, Jul. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/0833 (2023.01); G06Q 30/018 (2023.01)
CPC G06Q 10/0833 (2013.01) [G06Q 30/018 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A traceability system for an agricultural bulk commodity supply chain, the traceability system comprising:
a tracking device configured to be placed in an agricultural bulk commodity traveling along the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain, the tracking device being similar in size to a single unit of the agricultural bulk commodity such that it remains entrained within the agricultural bulk commodity and is conveyed along with the agricultural bulk commodity through material handling devices throughout the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain, the material handling devices imparting respective characteristic motions on the tracking device;
a location determination subsystem configured to determine positional information of the tracking device while the tracking device is traveling along the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain; and
at least one computing device having at least one processor configured to execute instructions using portions of associated memory to:
receive the positional information from the location determination subsystem;
extract positional values from the positional information;
process the positional values of the tracking device to identify motion primitives representing the respective characteristic motions imparted on the tracking device by the material handling devices as the tracking device travels through the material handling devices;
apply a modeling tool to the identified motion primitives to produce a three-dimensional positional path of the tracking device as the tracking device travels through the material handling devices; and
output the three-dimensional positional path, wherein
the three-dimensional positional path represents travel of the agricultural bulk commodity along the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain,
a size of the tracking device is in a range of 1 cubic centimeter to 5 cubic centimeters,
a shape of the tracking device is spherical, semi-spherical, or polygonal,
the material handling devices include at least one of a linear conveyor that imparts a linear motion primitive, an auger or screw conveyor that imparts a helical motion primitive, a projectile manifold that imparts a projectile motion primitive, and a vibrational conveyor, conveyor belt, or screening equipment that imparts a respective motion primitive,
the processor is configured to process the positional values to identify at least one of the linear motion primitive, helical motion primitive, projectile motion primitive, and the respective motion primitives of the vibrational conveyor, conveyor belt, and screening equipment,
the three-dimensional positional path is received by a sorting device arranged at a position along the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain, the sorting device being in communication with the tracking device and/or the processor, and
when the tracking device reaches the sorting device, the sorting device is configured to direct the agricultural bulk commodity within which the tracking device is entrained to a particular destination based on the travel of the agricultural bulk commodity along the agricultural bulk commodity supply chain prior to the sorting device.