Patents by Inventor Sarath Vakacharla

Sarath Vakacharla has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11062147
    Abstract: A system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking subsystem. The tracking subsystem receives an image feed of top-view images generated by the sensor and weight measurements from the weight sensor. The tracking subsystem detects an event associated with an item being removed from a rack in which the weight sensor is installed. The tracking subsystem determines that a first and second person may be associated with the event. After the item exits the rack, the subsystem tracks the item and calculates a velocity of the item as it is moved through the space. The subsystem identifies, based on the calculated velocity, a frame in which the velocity of the item is less than a threshold velocity. The subsystem determines whether the first or second person is nearer the item in the identified frame. If the first person is nearer, the item is assigned to the first person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: 7-Eleven, Inc.
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210150256
    Abstract: An object tracking system includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a tracking system. The tracking system is configured to determine that the first current pixel location for the shelf marker does not match a first expected pixel location for the shelf marker. The tracking system is further configured to determine a second current pixel location for the shelf marker within a second frame from the second sensor, to recalibrate the first sensor when the second current pixel location for the shelf marker matches the second pixel location for the shelf marker and to update the first pixel location with the first current pixel location and the second pixel location with the second current pixel location when the second current pixel location for the shelf marker does not match the second pixel location for the shelf marker.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sarath Vakacharla, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Crystal Maung
  • Publication number: 20210124938
    Abstract: A scalable tracking system processes video of a space to track the positions of people within a space. The tracking system determines local coordinates for the people within frames of the video and then assigns these coordinates to time windows based on when the frames were received. The tracking system then combines or clusters certain local coordinates that have been assigned to the same time window to determine a combined coordinate for a person during that time window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Shahmeer Ali Miza, Madan Mohan Chinnam, Caleb Austin Boulio
  • Publication number: 20210125476
    Abstract: A rack for a scalable tracking system includes weight sensors disposed on shelves that hold items. The weight sensors detect the weight of the items and communicates signals indicating that weight to a circuit board positioned in the rack. The circuit board communicates these detected weights to a weight server that determines, based on these weights, whether items were removed from the shelves.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Deepanjan Paul, Sarath Vakacharla, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Ryan Robert Strong
  • Publication number: 20210125260
    Abstract: An object tracking system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking system. The sensor is configured to capture a frame of at least a portion of a rack within a global plane for a space. The tracking system is configured to detect a weight decrease on the weight sensor. The tracking system is further configured to receive the frame of the rack, to determine a pixel location for a person, to determine the person is within a predefined zone associated with the rack. The tracking system is further configured to identify the item associated with the weight sensor and to add the identified item to a digital cart associated with the person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Sarath Vakacharla, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210125357
    Abstract: A scalable tracking system includes a camera subsystem, a weight subsystem, and a central server. The camera subsystem includes cameras that capture video of a space, camera clients that determine local coordinates of people in the captured videos, and a camera server that determines the physical positions of people in the space based on the determined local coordinates. The weight subsystem determines when items were removed from shelves. The central server determines which person in the space removed the items based on the physical positions of the people in the space and the determination of when items were removed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Madan Mohan Chinnam, Caleb Austin Boulio, Deepanjan Paul, Fahad Mirza
  • Publication number: 20210125409
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a display, interface, and processor. The interface receives a camera feed from a camera directed at a first physical rack located in a physical store. The processor displays, in a first region of the display, a virtual layout of a virtual store, configured to emulate a physical layout of the physical store. The virtual layout includes virtual racks assigned to physical racks. The virtual layout emulates the physical layout of the physical store. The processor receives an indication of an event associated with the first physical rack and accordingly displays the first virtual rack, which includes first and second virtual shelves. The first and second virtual shelves include virtual items that emulate physical items located on physical shelves of the first physical rack. The processor additionally displays a recording of the camera feed, which depicts the event associated with the first physical rack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Matthew Raymond Magee, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Franklin Philips
  • Publication number: 20210124926
    Abstract: An object tracking system includes a sensor and a tracking system. The sensor is configured to capture a frame of at least a portion of a rack within a global plane for a space. The tracking system is configured to receive the frame, to detect an object within a zone of the frame, and to determine a pixel location for the object. The tracking system is further configured to identify a zone and a shelf of the rack based on the pixel location, to identify an item based on the identified zone and the identified shelf of the rack, and to add the identified item to a digital cart associated with a person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Crystal Maung, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210124936
    Abstract: A system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking subsystem. The tracking subsystem receives an image feed of top-view images generated by the sensor and weight measurements from the weight sensor. The tracking subsystem detects an event associated with an item being removed from a rack in which the weight sensor is installed. The tracking subsystem determines that a first and second person may be associated with the event. After the item exits the rack, the subsystem tracks the item and calculates a velocity of the item as it is moved through the space. The subsystem identifies, based on the calculated velocity, a frame in which the velocity of the item is less than a threshold velocity. The subsystem determines whether the first or second person is nearer the item in the identified frame. If the first person is nearer, the item is assigned to the first person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210124940
    Abstract: A system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking subsystem. The tracking subsystem receives an image feed of top-view images generated by the sensor and weight measurements from the weight sensor. The tracking subsystem detects an event associated with an item being removed from a rack in which the weight sensor is installed. The tracking subsystem determines that a first person or a second person may be associated with the event. In response to determining that the first or second person may be associated with the event, buffer frames are stored of top-view images generated by the sensor during a time period associated with the event. The tracking subsystem then determines, using at least one of the stored buffer frames and a first action-detection algorithm, whether an action associated with the event was performed by the first person or the second person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210125360
    Abstract: A system includes a sensor and a client. The client receives a set of frames of top-view depth images generated by the sensor. The client identifies a frame of the received frames in which a first contour associated with a first object is merged with a second contour associated with a second object. The client determines, at a first depth in the identified frame, a merged-contour region which is associated with the merged contours. The client detects a third contour at a second depth that is less than the first depth and determines a first region associated with the third contour. The client detects a fourth contour at the second depth and determines a second region associated with the fourth contour. If criteria are satisfied, the client associates the first region with a position of the first object and associates the second region with a position of the second object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Trong Nghia Nguyen, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla
  • Publication number: 20210125269
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a display, interface, and processor. The interface receives video from a camera located in a physical store and directed at a first physical rack. The camera captures video of the rack during a shopping session. The processor displays a first virtual rack that emulates the first physical rack and includes first and second virtual shelves. The virtual shelves include virtual items, which include graphical representations of physical items located on the physical rack. The processor displays the rack video, which depicts an event including the person interacting with the first physical rack. The processor also displays a virtual shopping cart. The processor receives information associated with the event, identifying the first virtual item. The rack video depicts that the person selected the first physical item while interacting with the first physical rack. The processor then stores the first virtual item in the virtual shopping cart.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Matthew Raymond Magee, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Joshua E. Berry, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Ravi Kumar Kurva, Sarath Vakacharla, Ranganathan Mohan, Maninder Singh Suri, Jonathan Christopher Hodge
  • Publication number: 20210125258
    Abstract: An object tracking system that includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking system. The sensor is configured to capture a frame of at least a portion of a rack within a global plane for a space. The tracking system is configured to detect a weight increase on the weight sensor and to determine a weight increase amount on the weight sensor. The tracking system is further configured to receive the frame, to determine a pixel location for the first person, and to determine a person is within the predefined zone associated with the rack. The tracking system is further configured to identify the plurality of items in a digital cart associated with the person, to identify an item from the digital cart with an item weight that is closest to the weight increase amount, and to remove the identified item from the digital cart associated with the person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sarath Vakacharla, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210124939
    Abstract: A scalable tracking system processes video of a space to track the positions of people within a space. The tracking system determines local coordinates for the people within frames of the video and then assigns these coordinates to time windows based on when the frames were received. The tracking system then combines or clusters certain local coordinates that have been assigned to the same time window to determine a combined coordinate for a person during that time window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Madan Mohan Chinnam, Caleb Austin Boulio
  • Publication number: 20210124921
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a processor. The processor receives an algorithmic shopping cart that includes a first set of items determined by an algorithm to have been selected by a person during a shopping session in a physical store, based on a set of inputs received from sensors located within the physical store. The processor also receives a virtual shopping cart that includes a second set of items. Video of the shopping session was captured by a set of cameras located in the physical store and depicts the person selecting the second set of items. The processor compares the algorithmic cart to the virtual cart and determines that a discrepancy exists between the algorithmic cart and the virtual cart. The processor determines a subset of the set of inputs associated with the discrepancy and attaches metadata explaining the discrepancy to the subset. The processor uses the subset to train the algorithm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Sarath Vakacharla
  • Publication number: 20210125259
    Abstract: An object tracking system that includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking system. The sensor configured to capture a frame of at least a portion of a rack within a global plane for a space. The tracking system is configured to detect a weight decrease on the weight sensor. The tracking system is further configured to receive the frame of the rack, to identify a marker on an item within a predefined zone in the frame, and to identify the item associated with the identified marker. The tracking system is further configured to determine a pixel location for a person, to determine the person is within the predefined zone associated with the, and to add the identified item to a digital cart associated with the person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Deepanjan Paul
  • Publication number: 20210125354
    Abstract: A camera array for a scalable tracking system includes cameras that are communicatively coupled to camera clients. The cameras are arranged in a grid such that no camera is directly adjacent in the same row or column of the grid to another camera that is communicatively coupled to the same camera client. Cameras that are arranged along a diagonal of the grid are communicatively coupled to the same camera client.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Caleb Austin Boulio, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Shahmeer Ali Mirza
  • Publication number: 20210125341
    Abstract: A system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking subsystem. The tracking subsystem receives an image feed of top-view images generated by the sensor and weight measurements from the weight sensor. The tracking subsystem detects an event associated with an item being removed from a rack in which the weight sensor is installed. The tracking subsystem determines that a first person and a second person may be associated with the event. In response, the tracking subsystem dilates contours associated with the first and second person from a first depth to a second depth until the contours enter a zone adjacent to the rack. A number of iterations is determined for each contour to enter the zone adjacent to the rack. If the first person's contour enters the zone in fewer iterations, the item is assigned to the first person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Sarath Vakacharla, Deepanjan Paul
  • Patent number: 10956777
    Abstract: An object tracking system includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a tracking system. The tracking system is configured to determine that the first current pixel location for the shelf marker does not match a first expected pixel location for the shelf marker. The tracking system is further configured to determine a second current pixel location for the shelf marker within a second frame from the second sensor, to recalibrate the first sensor when the second current pixel location for the shelf marker matches the second pixel location for the shelf marker and to update the first pixel location with the first current pixel location and the second pixel location with the second current pixel location when the second current pixel location for the shelf marker does not match the second pixel location for the shelf marker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: 7-Eleven, Inc.
    Inventors: Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Sarath Vakacharla, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Crystal Maung
  • Patent number: 10943287
    Abstract: An object tracking system includes a sensor, a weight sensor, and a tracking system. The sensor is configured to capture a frame of at least a portion of a rack within a global plane for a space. The tracking system is configured to detect a weight decrease on the weight sensor. The tracking system is further configured to receive the frame of the rack, to determine a pixel location for a person, to determine the person is within a predefined zone associated with the rack. The tracking system is further configured to identify the item associated with the weight sensor and to add the identified item to a digital cart associated with the person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: 7-Eleven, Inc.
    Inventors: Sarath Vakacharla, Sailesh Bharathwaaj Krishnamurthy, Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Trong Nghia Nguyen, Deepanjan Paul