Abstract: Warehouse automation and methods of controlling material flow can be used to streamline order fulfillment processes. For example, according to some embodiments described herein, the inventory capacity of a mobile robot field is enhanced by vertically expanding the storage space that is readily accessible by mobile robots that facilitate an order sortation process. In result, the handling of inventoried items is reduced, and the efficiency of order fulfillment processes is increased.

Abstract: Warehouse automation and methods of handling materials can be used to enhance the safety and efficiencies of warehouse operations. For example, automation systems and methods that make depalletization processes safer and more efficient are described. In some examples, the depalletization systems described herein include multiple work cells/stations and a depalletization robot that traverses the work cells/stations on a rail so the robot can autonomously move between the stations.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method obtains a transaction log for a transaction at a self-service terminal during which the self-service terminal fails to detect the presence of an item at the self-service terminal. Features are extracted from the transaction log and the features are applied to a model to generate an inference for the transaction. The inference is used to determine whether to issue an alert that improper scanning has occurred at the self-service terminal.

Abstract: A nursing garment is configured to be worn by a wearer having breasts and for use with a pumping apparatus and includes a band, a pair of inner soft cups, and an exterior front panel. The band extends around a torso of the wearer. The pair of inner soft cups are secured to the band, and each includes a top retaining panel and a bottom retaining panel overlapping one another. The top retaining panel and the bottom retaining panel are configured to be selectively pulled away from each other forming an opening therebetween to permit a portion of the pumping apparatus to extend through the opening during milk expression. The exterior front panel extends over the pair of inner soft cups having a bottom edge that is free from mid-length securement can be at least partially pulled upwardly to expose one or both of the pair of inner soft cups.

Abstract: In some implementations, a system for providing and managing associations between mobile computing device and physical shopping carts used in retail stores includes a physical shopping cart configured to transport physical goods around a store. The physical shopping cart includes a product detection system that is programmed to detect products that are placed in the physical shopping cart, a wireless transceiver to wirelessly communicate with other devices, and a cart identifier that uniquely identifies the physical shopping cart. The system further includes a mobile computing device that is programmed (i) to obtain the cart identifier for the shopping cart, (ii) to establish an association with the physical shopping cart using the cart identifier, and (iii) once the association between the physical shopping cart and the mobile computing device has been established, to output a user interface that provides a real-time summary of the products in the physical shopping cart.

Abstract: Methods and systems for remote self-checkout are described. One method includes presenting a code at a self-checkout point-of-sale device that may be captured by a user (e.g., a store customer or a store employee) mobile device. The code may enable the mobile device to request a connection with the self-checkout point-of-sale device that allows for user interactions associated with a self-checkout session to be performed at the self-checkout point-of-sale device or at the mobile device. The self-checkout session includes adding items to be purchased into a cart instance and receiving payment for items in the cart instance. User interactions associated with weighed items may be performed on the mobile device in a manner integrated with a scale/scanner portion of the self-checkout point-of-sale device to avoid user contact with a touchpoint of the self-checkout point-of-sale device. Accordingly, contact with a self-checkout point-of-sale device by all users may be reduced.

Abstract: Product demand forecasting accuracy utilizes partitional clustering of time series data with dynamic time warping. The product demand forecasting disclosed herein is particularly suited to forecasting product demand for products with limited sales data. Time-series sales data of a producs (or group of products) with limited sales data (e.g. a sparse or no time series of sales data) are dynamically time warped with sales data of products, or groups of products, having extensive sales data (e.g., an extensive time series of sales data) to determine a clustering model with an optimal number of clusters and a prototype time series for each cluster in the model. The prototype time series for the cluster in which the product (or group of products) with limited sales data lies is utilized as its product demand forecast.

Abstract: In the general, the subject matter of the present disclosure relates to a data analysis tool that helps consumers, such as data scientists and engineers, understand datasets better. The disclosed data analysis framework/tool surfaces metrics to data consumers to visually inspect and understand large datasets more efficiently. In addition to the pre-computed and pre-collected metrics on given datasets or tables, the disclosed data analysis tool may also provide a way to detect various anomalies associated with the datasets.

Abstract: A method is provided for automatically discovering topics in electronic posts, such as social media posts. The method includes receiving a corpus that includes a plurality of electronic posts. The method further includes identifying a plurality of candidate terms within the corpus and selecting, as a trimmed lexicon, a subset of the plurality of candidate terms using predefined criteria. The method further includes clustering at least a subset of the plurality of electric posts according to a plurality of clusters using the lexicon to produce a plurality of statistical topic models. The method further includes storing information corresponding to the statistical topic models.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for viewing jobs managed by heterogeneous job schedulers on heterogeneous computing systems. Organizations often rely on workflow schedulers or job schedulers to execute and manage their workflow pipelines. However, different departments within a large organization may rely on different job scheduling applications for managing their workflows. Without the capability to monitor and manage all or a subset of jobs running on heterogeneous job scheduling applications across the organization at the same time, organizations lack the insight they need to make their workflow pipeline more efficient. The disclosed system and method allows users to monitor jobs or computer applications, including details regarding job execution and service level agreements, running on heterogeneous job schedulers across the organization.

Abstract: A self-checkout system including a cabinet supported by a floor, a tilt body coupled to a hinge and located inside the cabinet and a support body being slidably coupled to the tilt body. When the support body is located inside the cabinet, the tilt body is balanced about the hinge and the support body is spaced apart from the floor. When the support body is pulled outside the cabinet, a front of the tilt body is rotated about the hinge and the support body engages with the floor.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes a proxy receiving an authorization message from a load balancer and the proxy selecting an authorization cell from a plurality of authorization cells designated for the proxy in response to receiving the authorization message. The proxy sending a second authorization message to the selected authorization cell and the proxy receiving a response message from the selected cell, wherein the response message corresponds to the second authorization message. The proxy then sending a second response message to the load balancer in response to receiving the response message.

Abstract: Methods and systems for execution of data operations in a queue are described. One method includes loading a pointer to a record in a lock-free ring buffer by an executing thread, as well as calculating an index from the pointer to a record to be processed and obtaining a header of the record to be processed. Based on the header, a state of the record to be processed is determined from among: a filled state, a filling state, a drained state, and a draining state. A candidate header is created which includes an updated state indicating that the record is in use by the executing thread. An atomic operation is performed to update the header of the record to the candidate header. Upon successful completion of the atomic operation to update the header of the record to the candidate header, a data operation is performed on the record.

Abstract: Scalable order event monitoring and handling is provided. A fulfillment process of an order may be represented by a plurality of events corresponding to state or status changes of items included in the order. Consistent hashing is used to track order events to associate events that are tied to a same order to each other and to ensure associated events are distributed to a same general computing device/cluster for tracking purposes, while allowing parallel storage of order events across multiple separate data stores. Additionally, the order process may be represented as a weighted directed graph, which can help track missing events and order transitions efficiently.