This invention relates to a method and apparatus for assisting with stock control.
There has been an explosion of interest in introducing wireless capability into everyday devices following the advent of the internet of things. In many instances, manufacturers have responded to this upsurge of interest by simply introducing wireless chips into domestic appliances or similar. For the user, however, this wireless capability is not always readily accessible or practically useable. Many users would like to take advantage of the new technology to make their lives easier, but they have neither the technical capability nor the money to replace their existing kitchen with a new “smart” kitchen. Therefore, there is a need for products that can introduce intelligence into people's homes in a practical way.
According to one aspect, there is provided a sensing pad configured to detect an object on a surface of the pad, said surface being configured into multiple zones, and determine in which zone the detected object is located in order that the detected object can be associated with an object type that is associated with the determined zone.
Other aspects may include one or more of the following.
The sensing pad may be associated with a controller that is configured to associate the detected object with the object type. It may comprise the controller. It may comprise a wireless transmitter, the sensing pad being configured to transmit data indicative of a detected object to the controller. The sensing pad may be configured to transmit data comprising one or more of an indication of the presence of the detected object, a weight of the detected object and the determined zone in which the detected object is located.
The sensing pad may be configured to detect when the presence of an object on the surface of the pad changes and to enter a low power mode if no changes occur for a predetermined length of time. It may comprise a sensor configured to detect movement in the vicinity of the sensing pad, the sensing pad being configured to wake from a low power mode if the sensor detects movement.
The sensing pad may comprise at least one presence sensor associated with each zone, the sensing pad being configured such that a presence sensor associated with one zone detects an object located in that zone but does not detect an object located in any of the other zones. It may comprise an upper mat and a lower mat and one or more presence sensors therebetween for detecting an object on the surface of the pad. It may comprise one or more guiding pins between the upper mat and the lower mat configured to assist the upper mat to deform uniformly across its surface responsive to an object on that surface. It may comprise one or more boundary strips that separate an upper mat of one zone from an upper mat of a neighbouring zone. The one or more boundary strips may be configured to prevent the upper mat of one zone from deforming responsive to an object on its neighbouring zone. At least one of the upper and lower mats may comprise a flexible material. At least one of the upper and lower mats may comprise an inflexible plate.
The sensing pad may comprise one or more weight sensors configured to detect the weight of an object on the surface of the pad. The weight sensors being configured to detect the weight such that said detected weight can be converted into a volume.
According to a second aspect, there is provided a controller comprising an input configured to receive data indicative of an object detected on a sensing pad and a stock control module configured to determine which zone, of multiple zones on the surface of the sensing pad, the detected object is located in and associate the detected object with an object type associated with the determined zone.
Other aspects may include one or more of the following.
The stock control module may be configured to determine a remaining amount of a comestible in dependence on the received data and the object type associated with the detected object. It may be configured to provide an indication of the remaining amount to a user in dependence on that remaining amount and/or a factor independent of the remaining amount. It may be configured to provide an indication of the remaining amount to a user in a format that is dependent on user preference. It may be configured to convert the received data into data of a different type in dependence on the object type associated with the detected object. It may be configured to determine the object type in dependence on one or more of user input, a product identification number, or a scan of an identification image marked on the object. The received data may include data indicative of a weight of the detected object, the stock control module may be configured to convert that weight into a volume in dependence on the object type associated with the detected object. The received data may include data indicative of a gross weight of the detected object, the stock control module may be configured to convert that gross weight into a net weight in dependence on the object type associated with the detected object.
The stock control module may be configured to identify a set of one of more object types linked to the object type with which the detected object is associated and provide that set of object types to a user. The set of one or more object types may correspond to ingredients in a recipe.
According to a third aspect, there is provided a method comprising detecting an object on a surface of a sensing pad, determining that said object is located in a particular zone of multiple zones formed from the surface of the sensing pad and associating the object with an object type associated with the determined zone.
According to a third aspect, there is provided machine readable code for implementing a controller and method as described herein.
According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a machine readable storage medium having encoded thereon non-transitory machine-readable code for implementing a controller and method as described herein.
The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
An example of one tool for introducing intelligence into an existing kitchen is shown in
A more detailed example of a sensing pad is shown in
When an object is placed on the upper mat it deforms slightly, creating pressure on the sensors. This causes the sensors to output a pressure or weight reading. The number of sensors is suitably selected in dependence on the surface area of the zone. A typical number might be three or four sensors per zone. The sensors are preferably evenly distributed throughout the zone. The sensors may be arranged such that there is one in each corner of the zone.
An optional mechanism for distributing the weight of an object uniformly between multiple sensors is shown in
Suitably the different zones of the sensing pad are separate from each other so that the sensors in one zone are not activated when an object is placed on another zone. This may be achieved by arranging the sensing pad such that the upper mat in one zone does not deform (and thus activate the sensors) when an object is placed on the upper mat of a neighbouring zone. The sensing pad suitably includes one or more boundary strips between neighbouring zones. In
The combination of a flexible covering 206 with a relatively non-flexible plate 205 shown in
The sensing pad may also include a docking station, shown at 208 in
The power manager may be configured to control power usage of the sensing pad, particularly in dependence on sensor readings being received by the receive unit. Power management is important if the sensing pad is to be able to run off a battery for long periods of time. In one example, the sensors may be configured to report only if they detect a change in weight (e.g. because an object has been removed from the sensing pad). The power management unit may be configured to cause the other components in the sensing pad to enter a power saving mode if the receive unit has not received any updates from the sensors for a predetermined length of time. The power management unit might also make use of one of the other sensors. For example, the power management unit might wake up the electrical components in the sensing pad (including possibly the weight/pressure sensors) only if a movement and/or vibration sensor detects movement in the vicinity of the pad.
The sensing pad is suitably associated with a controller, which is where the intelligence of the system resides. The controller can form part of the sensing pad. For example, it could form part of receive unit 211. Alternatively the controller could be implemented on another device, which is connected to the sensing pad via wired or wireless means. A further option is for the controller to be implemented by a combination of the sensing pad and one or more other devices so that the intelligence spans multiple devices.
Some or all of the controller might also be implemented by a distributed processing system, e.g. in the cloud.
An example of a controller is shown in
An example of a scenario in which the controller is implemented in a separate device from the sensing pad is shown in
The docking station may be configured (as in this example) to interact with the other device or the cloud via a wireless link. The docking station comprises a wireless module 404 that is preferably capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via a suitable wireless communication protocol such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GSM, LTE etc. The docking station is thus able to wirelessly upload sensor data to an external controller (whether in a smartphone, the cloud or elsewhere).
The other device is shown generally at 409. The other device is typically a user device such as a smartphone, tablet computer, P.C., laptop etc. It comprises a wireless module 410 that is capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via a suitable wireless communication protocol such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GSM, LTE etc. It also comprises a user interface 411, which may include one or more of a display, keyboard, touchscreen etc.
In this example the other device 409 also comprises the controller 412. The controller includes input 413, stock control module 416 and a product database 417. The product database may include details that a user has recorded for their particular sensing pad—such as product types associated with a particular zone, number of products stored in each zone, previous weight of products in that zone and original weights of products in that zone etc. The product database may also store details of commonly used products.
The product database is shown as being part of the other device 409 in
The controller in
An example of a general method for monitoring stock levels is shown in
Further examples of how the sensing pad might be used in practice are shown in
Optionally it may be possible to repeat the process of
Alternatively, the user may be queried in step 703 to enter the number of products to be stored (e.g. a number of tins or packets).
An alternative to the specific method shown in
Data that might be provided to the user in a number of different formats:
The controller may provide the user with updates whenever a new weight is detected, at predetermined intervals or only when the user requests an update. The data may be provided via user polling or via a push notification service, e.g. to a user's phone. This may be particularly applicable in implementations where the sensing pad uploads data to the cloud, which acts as the controller, and the cloud provides the processed data to the user's smartphone as and when required. The data might only be provided to the user when a predetermined condition has been met, e.g. the remaining amount of a particular product has fallen below a predetermined threshold.
One particularly advantageous feature of the methods and apparatus described above is that it allows the gross and net weight of specific food products to be calculated, together with the remaining volume. For example, the weight of a milk bottle might be the same as the weight of tomato ketchup but the volume of the actual food product could be very different. In most embodiments the weight sensor is only capable of generating weight data. It does not recognise the weight to volume relationship of the contents or the weight of the container. An example of a method for addressing this is shown in
Another beneficial feature of the methods and apparatus described above is that it enables the user to be provided with information about products that are related to a particular product whose weight has been detected. As an example, the controller may link a product that the user has on one of their sensing pads with other foodstuffs that could be used to make a meal. Those related products might be products that the user has in stock or not. Typically the linked products would form ingredients for a recipe. The ingredient list could then be provided to the user, with an indication of which products the user already has and which might have to be purchased. The controller could also provide the user with the recipe.
Another advantageous feature of the methods and apparatus described above is that it allows additional functionality of a user device, such as a smartphone, and/or the functionality of other applications, such as If This Then That, to be combined with the functionality of the sensing pad. As an example, the controller may provide the user with alerts about products that are running low when the user's phone indicates that the user is outside a supermarket. The controller may thus only provide the user with information not only when the remaining amount of a product is below a certain threshold but also when some completely independent factor indicates that the user might be interested in receiving that information at the present moment.
The sensing pad may also be used as a weighing scales. The sensing pad may be provided with a simple display, on which it can output weight or volume measurements, or it may output the appropriate measurements to the external controller for display to the user.
The sensing pad might be used alone or incorporated in other products. For example, it is envisaged that the sensing pad might be incorporated into the base of kitchen storage containers—such as pasta jars, coffee jars, egg cups or the like—and used to monitor its contents. The other products could take the form of add-ons or accessories to the sensing mats. They could, for example, be configured to connect via a wired or wireless connection with the docking station of a separate sensing mat, rather than having a docking station of their own. Such add-on products would preferably be controlled via the same controller that controls the associated sensing mat, e.g. via an app on a user's smartphone.
The methods and apparatus described above have been primarily described with reference to a domestic setting in which they are used to help a user keep track of foodstuffs. This is just one example of a suitable application and it should be understood that the sensing pads may be used to keep track of any substance or object.
An example of a sound detect unit is shown in
The sound detect unit will usually take the form of a small hub that can be placed on a kitchen worktop or mounted on a wall using a wall bracket. A more detailed example of a sound detect unit and the components it may comprise is shown in
The sound detect unit can be “trained” by a user to recognise particular sounds. The user is also able to set triggers and create actions so that when the sound detect unit detects a certain sound it can send a customised notification to the user or interact with other devices around the user's home. The “action” might be taken solely by the sound detect unit or might involve one or more other devices.
In one example, the sound detect unit may issue an alert to the user when it detects a sound that indicates an appliance has finished a program (e.g. the microwave has “pinged”) or a sound that indicates an appliance is not working properly (e.g. the fridge door has been left open). The sound detect unit might issue an alert by generating a sound of its own or flash a light. However, in this scenario the sound detect unit is likely to be most useful when the user is not in the vicinity of the sound detect unit (and therefore not able to hear the sound that triggered the alert in the first place). It is therefore preferred for the sound detect unit to issue act on an alert by interacting with another device that is more likely to be in the vicinity of the user, e.g. by sending a message to the user's mobile phone.
Other actions might involve the sound detect unit causing another device to perform an action. For example, the sound detect unit might control a connected oven to switch off or reduce temperature in response to the beep of a timer.
The sound detect unit might include sensors to give it increased functionality. Suitable examples include temperature, motion, light and humidity sensors. The sound detect unit could, for example, detect and manage moisture levels in the air to avoid mould and condensation. It could help ensure that food has the right environmental conditions to achieve a long shelf-life. The user may be provided with advice and suggestions on how the kitchen environment may be improved. This advice might be provided via a display on the sound detect unit, audibly via a loudspeaker or via a separate device such as a user's smartphone or similar. The sound detect unit might also incorporate a light that could emit a soft glow when a movement sensor in the device detects movement. The sound detect unit might be configured only to emit that light during hours of darkness. Activation of the light might therefore be dependent either on the time or on the output of a light sensor.
Another option is for the sound detect unit to control other connected products based on a combination of inputs. For example, if someone walks past the sound detect unit at a certain time of day, e.g. between 6 am and 9 am, and this is detected by the sound detect unit's motion sensor, the sound detect unit may control a connected kettle to switch on.
The sound detect unit might control other connected devices directly, e.g. by sending them simple commands such as “turn on” or “turn off” via a wireless link. The sound control unit might also control other devices indirectly, e.g. the sound detect unit may inform an external controller, such as a smartphone app, that the appropriate trigger conditions have been fulfilled and the external controller might directly control the other connected device to perform the required action.
The external controller may be similar to the controller described above with reference to the sensing pad. The stock control unit described above might be replaced by a combination of an action control module for identifying trigger conditions and initiating the appropriate action and an external device controller for interacting with other devices. Again, although the external controller could be implemented wholly or partly in hardware it is likely to be implemented predominantly by a processor acting under software control. At least all or part of the controller might be implemented by a user device, the cloud or a combination of the two. The user device may be a smartphone, tablet, laptop or the like. In many implementations, at least part of the controller is likely to be a smartphone running an app.
Preferably the sound detect unit incorporates a wireless module that is capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via a suitable wireless communication protocol such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GSM, LTE etc.
The user may be able to interact directly with the sound detect unit to program the appropriate triggers and actions. The sound detect unit might include a user interface to enable the user to program it. Alternatively the user may program the sound detect unit through an external controller, which may be connected to the sound detect unit via a wired or wireless connection. In one preferred example, control and programming of the sound detect unit may be possible via a combination of the sound detect unit itself and an external controller. For example, the sound detect unit may be provided with a simple user interface, such as a single button, to facilitate learning of sounds. The user may then program the appropriate actions via an app on his or her smartphone. The user may then receive notifications and/or advice based on what the sound detect unit is detecting via the same app (or other external controller).
The sound detect unit may “learn” sounds continuously. For example, it might stream sound to a user's phone whenever it detects a sound that it does not recognise so that the user can identify the sound and associate it with any appropriate triggers. The sound detect unit may also have a “learning mode” when the user deliberately introduces it to sounds that the user wants it to recognise. An example of a learning process is shown in
An example of a typical use process for the sound detect unit is shown in
An example of a fridge camera and methods of operating it are shown in
The fridge camera is a wireless camera that takes a picture of the contents in a user's fridge upon the fridge door being opened or closed. Suitably the camera includes a light sensor and/or motion sensor to detect opening or closing of the fridge door. The device suitable operates in sleep mode until it senses light and/or motion. This automatically triggers the camera to take a picture upon a forwards y-axes motion.
The fridge camera may use high-speed sampling of a 1-axis accelerometer to calculate the relative location of the camera, based upon the understanding that: (i) distance equals speed multiplied by time; and (ii) that the camera is attached to a fixed hinge. From this information it will take a picture of the fridge only when the camera is moving in the correct direction and as it passes the optimal selected location. When the fridge door is closed, accelerometer positioning is reset, avoiding any cumulative drift in readings.
The fridge camera may take several images during this time and use image recognition to ensure that the full height and width of the fridge and its contents are captured.
A fridge camera can also be placed inside of the fridge to capture the contents in the fridge door. This second camera may sync with the camera fitted to the door to know when to capture the image.
Any of the devices described herein may interact with each other. They may also be used for any suitable application and are not limited to use in kitchens or other domestic settings.
At least some of the structures shown in
The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1600104.2 | Jan 2016 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/GB2017/050002 | 1/3/2017 | WO | 00 |