Systems and methods of tracking item containers at a shopping facility

Abstract

In some embodiments, provide apparatuses and methods to track item containers. Some of these embodiments include systems to track item containers, comprising: an audio detector positioned relative to a parking lot associated with a shopping facility and configured to capture audio signals generated at one or more predefined locations; an audio evaluation circuit to: receive the audio signals; and identify when one or more audio signatures correspond to one or more distinct predefined audio signatures that correspond to movements of a first item container relative to the one or more predefined locations; and a control circuit configured to estimate a quantity of item containers at the one or more predefined locations as a function of identifying that one or more of the audio signals include the one or more audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined audio signatures.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system to track item containers, comprising:
 an audio detector positioned relative to a parking lot associated with a shopping facility and configured to capture audio signals generated at one or more predefined locations of the parking lot;   an audio evaluation circuit configured to:
 receive, over time, the audio signals captured by the audio detector; and 
 identify, for each of the audio signals, when the audio signal includes multiple separate audio signatures captured over time and each corresponding to one of a plurality of distinct predefined audio signatures that correspond to movements of a first item container relative to the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot; and 
   a control circuit coupled with the audio evaluation circuit and configured to estimate a quantity of item containers at the one or more predefined locations as a function of identifying that one or more of the audio signals include one or more of the multiple audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined audio signatures;   wherein the audio evaluation circuit is further configured to identify that each of multiple audio signatures corresponds to a different one of a first set of predefined audio signatures of multiple different sets of predefined audio signatures; and   wherein the control circuit is further configured to confirm that the first item container is placed at a first predefined location area based on a confirmation that a sequence of the occurrence in time of the multiple audio signatures relative to each other correspond to a predefined sequence of the first set of predefined audio signatures.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
 identify that the estimated quantity of item containers at the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot is greater than a threshold quantity; and   notify one or more workers of the shopping facility to retrieve the item containers in response to the estimated quantity of item containers being greater than the threshold quantity.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the audio evaluation circuit is further configured to:
 receive, after the notifying the one or more workers, one or more additional audio signals captured by the audio detector; and   identify, from the additional audio signal, one or more additional audio signatures corresponding to one or more predefined additional audio signatures that correspond to movements of a plurality of item containers being moved toward the shopping facility; and   wherein the control circuit is further configured to confirm, based on the identification of the one or more additional audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined additional audio signatures, that at least a portion of the estimated quantity of the item containers at the one or more predefined locations are returned to the shopping facility.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the control circuit in estimating the quantity of item containers is configured to estimate, based on multiple sets of audio signatures each corresponding to the one or more of the multiple sets of predefined audio signatures, a first quantity of item containers at a first predefined location and a second quantity of items at a second predefined location; and
 wherein the control circuit in notifying the one or more workers is configured to notify the one or more workers to specifically retrieve the item containers from the first predefined location based on the estimated quantity of item containers at the first predefined location.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the audio evaluation circuit in identifying that each of the multiple audio signatures correspond to a different one of the multiple sets of predefined audio signatures identifies, in a first audio signal, a first audio signature that corresponds to a first predefined audio signature of an item container contacting one or more predefined structures positioned at the first predefined location of the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine a direction of movement of the first item container based the sequence of the multiple audio signatures. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the audio evaluation circuit, in identifying when the audio signal includes one or more audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined audio signatures, is further configured to identify that multiple audio signatures of one or more of the audio signals each correspond to a different predefined audio signature;
 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:   identify that the multiple audio signatures occurred within a threshold period of time; and   confirm that the first item container is placed at a first predefined location area of the one or more predefined locations in response to the combination of the multiple audio signatures occurring within the threshold period of time.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the audio detector comprises a directional microphone mounted at a distance from the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot and directed at a first predefined location of the one or more predefined locations where item containers are deposited to capture at least some of the audio signals generated at the first predefined location. 
     
     
         9 . A method of tracking item containers, comprising:
 capturing, through an audio detector positioned relative to a parking lot associated with a shopping facility, audio signals generated at one or more predefined locations of the parking lot;   receiving, over time through an audio evaluation circuit, the audio signals captured by the audio detector;   identifying, for each of the audio signals, when the audio signal includes multiple separate audio signatures captured over time and each corresponding to one of a plurality of distinct predefined audio signatures that correspond to movements of a first item container relative to the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot;   estimating a quantity of item containers at the one or more predefined locations as a function of identifying that one or more of the audio signals include one or more of the multiple audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined audio signatures;   identifying that each of multiple audio signatures corresponds to a different one of a first set of predefined audio signatures of multiple different sets of predefined audio signatures; and   confirming that the first item container is placed at a first predefined location area based on a confirmation that a sequence of the occurrence in time of the multiple audio signatures relative to each other correspond to a predefined sequence of the first set of predefined audio signatures.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 identifying that the estimated quantity of item containers at the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot is greater than a threshold quantity; and   notifying one or more workers of the shopping facility to retrieve the item containers in response to the estimated quantity of item containers being greater than the threshold quantity.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving, after the notifying the one or more workers, one or more additional audio signals captured by the audio detector; and   identifying, from the additional audio signal, one or more additional audio signatures corresponding to one or more predefined additional audio signatures that correspond to movements of a plurality of item containers being moved toward the shopping facility; and   confirming, based on the identification of the one or more additional audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined additional audio signatures, that at least a portion of the estimated quantity of the item containers at the one or more predefined locations are returned to the shopping facility.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the estimating the quantity of item containers further comprises estimating, based on multiple sets of audio signatures each corresponding to the one or more of the multiple sets of predefined audio signatures, a first quantity of item containers at a first predefined location and a second quantity of items at a second predefined location; and
 wherein the notifying the one or more workers comprises notifying the one or more workers to specifically retrieve the item containers from the first predefined location based on the estimated quantity of item containers at the first predefined location.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the identifying that each of the multiple audio signatures correspond to a different one of the set of predefined audio signatures comprises identifying, in a first audio signal, a first audio signature that corresponds to a first predefined audio signature of an item container contacting one or more predefined structures positioned at the first predefined location of the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining a direction of movement of the first item container based the sequence of the multiple audio signatures.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the identifying when the audio signal includes one or more audio signatures corresponding to the one or more predefined audio signatures further comprises identifying that multiple audio signatures of one or more of the audio signals each correspond to a different predefined audio signature;
 identifying that the multiple audio signatures occurred within a threshold period of time; and   confirming that the first item container is placed at a first predefined location area of the one or more predefined locations in response to the combination of the multiple audio signatures occurring within the threshold period of time.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 mounting a directional microphone at a distance from the one or more predefined locations of the parking lot and directed at a first predefined location of the one or more predefined locations where item containers are deposited;   wherein the capturing the audio signals comprises capturing at least some of the audio signals generated at the first predefined location.