EP4335122A1

EP4335122A1 - Method and system for determining the location of shelf-edge equipment

Info

Publication number: EP4335122A1
Application number: EP21724256.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas RÖßL; Philipp JAUCK
Original assignee: SES Imagotag GmbH
Current assignee: Vusiongroup GmbH
Priority date: 2021-05-05
Filing date: 2021-05-05
Publication date: 2024-03-13
Also published as: WO2022233410A1; JP2024519676A; MX2023012710A; AU2021444143A1; CA3215297A1; KR20240004953A; CN117256160A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for locating shelf-edge equipment of unknown location and which is positioned on a shelf edge, the method comprising the following method steps: automatically determining a location of the shelf-edge equipment in a plane by means of radio communication between the shelf-edge equipment and radio devices of known location, and automatically supplementing the location in the plane with a third coordinate for the purpose of defining the location of the shelf-edge equipment in space by using supplementary data, the supplementary data representing the third coordinate and being related to the shelf-edge equipment.

Description

title

Method and system for locating shelf rail equipment Description

technical field

The invention relates to a method and a system for determining the location of shelf rail equipment.

background

From PCT / EP2014 / 059824 a method for locating radio tags is known, in a group of radio tags, in particular designed as electronic price display devices, a locating signal a) is either transmitted by one or more known position radio tags and from received by the radio tag with an unknown position, b) or transmitted by the radio tag with an unknown position and received by one or more radio tags with a known position, and in both cases a), b) the reception quality for the radio tag receiving the locating signal is determined and made available for the locating signal as a basis for delimiting the position of the position-unknown radio tag.

In practice, this method has proven to be very advantageous for locating individual missing radio tags. In this application, it is less important to find the exact position in space. Rather, it is sufficient if the position of the radio tag that is not known in terms of location can at least be narrowed down in order to then search manually in this localization area and also to find the radio tag that is not known in terms of location there. However, if this method were to be used to systematically determine the position of all radio tags, this would result in an unacceptably high energy consumption for the individual radio tags and the result would only be available after a relatively long processing time, which is particularly the case with battery-operated radio tags the lifetime of the batteries would be drastically reduced. The resulting maintenance effort is disproportionate to the benefit.

The invention has therefore set itself the task of providing an improved method.

Summary of the Invention

This object is achieved by methods for locating shelf rail equipment of unknown location according to claim 1 . The subject of the invention is therefore a method for locating an unknown location of shelf rail equipment positioned on a shelf rail, the method comprising the following method steps, namely automatically determining a location of the shelf rail equipment in a plane by means of radio communication between the shelf rail equipment and locally known radio equipment, and automatically supplementing the location in the plane with a third coordinate to determine the location of the shelf rail equipment in space by using supplemental data, wherein the supplemental data represents the third coordinate and is related to the shelf rail equipment.

The measures according to the invention have the advantage that the localization of (in particular electronic) rack rail equipment attached to a rack rail is much more precise, significantly faster and takes place with considerably less collective energy expenditure. This is achieved by splitting the determination of the coordinates of space into two sub-processes.

The first part of the process is a tried-and-tested and widely used radio-based localization, with the help of which a reliable determination of the location in one plane, preferably in the horizontal plane, is carried out. This has proven to be very useful above all for indoor location, particularly in the sales rooms of retailers or supermarkets, because such rooms often have a large surface area and, in comparison, have a relatively low room height. In these rooms, radio devices for radio-based localization of the rack rail equipment can be positioned excellently, for example on the ceiling at optimal radio-technical distances or positions apart from one another. Accordingly, he delivers Locating process for the rack rail equipment in one plane (eg projected onto the ceiling plane or also parallel to the ceiling on which the radio devices are positioned) results with excellent accuracy.

However, the situation is different with the third coordinate (z coordinate), which, in addition to the two other coordinates (x and y coordinates), which indicate the location in the plane, is necessary to determine that point in space at which the relevant shelf rail equipment is located. Experience has shown that the radio-based methods do not provide the necessary accuracy in the z-direction. This can be caused by an unfavorable relationship between the surface area and the room height of the salesroom as well as by various circumstances in the salesrooms that prevent optimal radio propagation (shadowing, reflection, interference signals from other radio systems, etc.). The (horizontal) distances in the third coordinate between adjacent rack rail equipment are often relatively small, which exacerbates the problem of inaccuracies in the radio-based determination of the third coordinate.

In order to overcome this problem of the radio-based methods, the second partial measure, namely the supplementation of the radio-based determination of the coordinates of the plane by automatically including the supplemental data, starts here according to the invention. Radio-based location determination is therefore not completely dispensed with, but rather radio-based technology is used for that area of automated location determination (this is location determination in the plane) for which it delivers results with acceptable accuracy under the given framework or application conditions.

The weak point (spatial resolution in the third coordinate; z-coordinate) of the completely automatic radio-based location of the rack rail equipment is thus overcome by automatically including the supplementary data for locating the rack rail equipment in the third coordinate. The two radio-based coordinates of the plane are thus supplemented by a third coordinate obtained in a different way.

In this context, the fact that the supplementary data is related to the shelf rail equipment means that for a specific Shelf rail equipment is provided by the supplementary data a specific third coordinate. This relationship can be given by a unique identifier of the shelf rail equipment concerned, to which identifier the third coordinate is also "married".

However, this third coordinate to be added can also be assigned to a group of the shelf rail equipment if it is valid for all members of this group, ie the members of this group all have this specific third coordinate in their spatial location.

Irrespective of the fact that the first two coordinates for locating in the plane are found by radio communication, the determination of the third coordinate is based on a different method than the radio communication mentioned, in particular not on radio communication. The third coordinate is thus determined using a method that differs from the method used to determine the other two coordinates, in order then to be used automatically to supplement the pair of coordinates of the plane determined by radio communication into a spatial location with three coordinates.

In summary, this is a combination of extremely energy-saving measures for complete location determination or localization. Each of these sub-measures can be carried out quickly and without problems and, considered on its own, provides correct sub-results in a reliable and easily reproducible manner, which are automatically combined to form an overall result for complete location determination.

In contrast to the initially mentioned swarm-based location determination method, according to the method according to the invention, each shelf rail equipment only has to transmit to determine its own location. In addition, expensive and complex, possibly also lengthy, radio traffic for determining the third coordinate, which is relatively difficult to determine, as precisely as possible is avoided by substituting the radio communication for determining this third coordinate.

Further, particularly advantageous configurations and developments of the invention result from the dependent claims and the following description. A shelf rail is usually understood to mean the front end of a shelf of a shelf. Analogous to the arrangement and number of shelves, the shelf rails are also arranged one above the other, i.e. arranged along the z-coordinate of the room. The shelf rails usually run in a plane that is oriented normal to the z-coordinate, and locations along the shelf rail are clearly identifiable in this plane by the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate of a Cartesian coordinate system. The choice of the origin of this coordinate system is arbitrary and therefore a matter of convention.

It goes without saying that another coordinate system can also be used for location determination purposes, such as a cylindrical coordinate system, etc.

In the simplest case, the rack rail equipment can be a rack rail radio device (e.g. a radio transceiver) that is attached to the rack rail in question, or it can be an integral part of the rack rail, possibly also a modular component that can be removed.

The shelf rail equipment can also be formed by an electronic shelf label, which has a corresponding radio module to communicate with shelf label access points, e.g. to receive data for a display on its screen or also data such as its battery status or its display Update jams to deliver across the shelf label access point. However, the radio module can also be used for radio communication for location determination.

In addition to the electronic shelf labels mentioned, other electronic devices can also be used as shelf rail equipment. Without claiming to be an exhaustive list, these different devices can comprise a basic functionality or basic design: sensors such as temperature sensors or proximity sensors, etc.; cameras for still image capture or video capture or infrared capture; Input devices such as individual keys or keypads or rotary knobs or rotary controls or touch screens; Display units such as one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), video screens or electronic shelf displays with energy-saving bistable screen technologies such as Electronic Ink or E-Paper or active screen technologies such as Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), etc. The devices mentioned above essentially have a basic functionality. However, such devices can also have combined basic functionalities or provide a dominant basic functionality supplemented by further supporting functions. Thus, these electronic devices can also provide further, supplementary communication functionalities, such as an NFC interface for device activation, for data transmission from and to the device or control of device functions from close proximity (a few millimeters to a few centimeters) or to Establishing a binding between a product and the electronic device or a Bluetooth low-energy radio module for radio communication over longer distances with compatible radio devices.

An infrastructure of WLAN access points can be used as the shelf label access points, for example, in radio communication for the purpose of location determination on the level. With the help of the WLAN access points, the pair of coordinates for determining the equipment on the level can be determined, e.g. by triangulation.

However, for the automatic determination of the location in the plane, preference is given to ultra-broadband radio communication between locally known ultra-broadband radio devices, in particular access points equipped with them, which are positioned at different locally known positions at a distance from the shelf rail equipment, and the shelf rail equipment used. The advantages of ultra-wideband radio communication (abbreviated to UWB radio communication) can therefore be fully exploited for the purpose of precisely locating equipment indoors on the flat.

Known measures such as "Two-way Ranging" (abbreviated TWR), "Time-difference-of-Arrival" (abbreviated TDoA) or "Phase-Difference-of-Arrival" (abbreviated PDoA) can be used .

The UWB radio devices can be designed individually and distributed in a business premises as locally known anchors for UWB radio communication, for example positioned on the ceiling of a business premises. A radio combination device consisting of a WLAN access point and a UWB radio device can also be provided, so that no additional Installation effort for the UWB radios arises because a WLAN infrastructure is usually always desirable and necessary. In this case, each radio combination device forms the locally known anchor for UWB radio signal or communication-based location determination in the plane.

Provision can also be made in a store for a dedicated rack rail equipment network with rack rail equipment access points to be operated, e.g. for the purpose of controlling the rack rail equipment. At the same time, the locally known UWB radio devices can also be operated or installed. In this case, too, a radio combination device made up of shelf rails, equipment access point and UWB radio device, possibly also in combination with a WLAN access point, can be implemented. In this case, too, each radio combination device forms the locally known anchor for UWB radio signal or communication-based location determination in the plane.

As mentioned, the automatic addition of the third coordinate is not based on a radio-based localization method. Rather, the supplementary data can be obtained from a data structure that is stored in an electronic database. The third coordinate can represent a z-coordinate in the classic sense, e.g. specified in meters or millimeters, etc. The data structure preferably indicates, as the third coordinate, on which shelf level of a shelf the relevant shelf rail equipment is installed. The third coordinate does not necessarily represent a classic z-coordinate, but refers to a unit defined by the shelf or its individual structure itself, such as the first, second, third, etc. shelf level or e.g. the bottom, the middle and the top shelf level. Of course, corresponding to the specification of the number of the shelf level, a classic length measurement could also be stored in order to provide the physical third (z) coordinate in meters etc.

The data structure is built up by collecting identification data of the rack rail equipment and assigning the identification data to the rack level at which the rack rail equipment is located. In doing so, a logical link between a shelf label clearly identified with the help of the identification data is created in a digital manner. Equipment and the shelf level at which it is installed are manufactured and stored.

The construction of the data structure can precede the radio-based determination of the two coordinates of the plane. For example, the data structure can already be set up when the shelves or the shelf rail equipment is installed on the shelves. This also has the advantage that as soon as the coordinate pairs of the plane for a specific shelf rail equipment have been determined in a radio-based manner, with the identification data of the respective shelf rail equipment also being recorded, the associated third coordinate can be included and the position in space, in particular in the planogram, can be assigned or assigned directly to the affected shelf rail equipment.

If the construction of the data structure follows the radio-based determination of the two coordinates of the plane, the two coordinates of the plane must first be temporarily stored until the associated third coordinate is available and can be used to supplement the two coordinates of the plane.

For the purpose of allocating the identification data to the appropriate shelf level, the identification data can be read out automatically by the shelf rail equipment using a portable recording device, and shelf level data can be generated by receiving an input for defining the shelf levels at the recording device and the identification data are transmitted together with the shelf level data to the electronic database, preferably using radio communication, and stored there.

First of all, the identity of the shelf rail equipment in question is determined. This can be done, for example, by means of a barcode or a QR code placed on the shelf rail equipment, which is scanned with the handheld scanner used by a retailer's employee. However, this identification can also be done by detecting a flashing light signal, which is used to encode the identification data and which is emitted by the rack rail equipment. Also can the Identification using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or NFC (Near Field Communication) communication between the rack rail equipment in question and the portable detection device.

The shelf level at which the relevant shelf rail equipment is installed is recorded by input on the handheld enrollment device by the employee, e.g. by pressing a touch screen or predefined buttons or by voice control, and thus determines from which the enrollment device generates the shelf level data .

The identification data and shelf level data obtained in this way are transmitted from the recording device to the database and stored there in association with one another as a pair of data that belongs together.

As mentioned, the identification can be carried out by detecting a light signal, for which purpose the employee has to point the portable detection device essentially at the rack rail equipment in question and, if necessary, also hold it close to it.

However, the assignment to the shelf level can also be fully automated, with the purpose of assigning the identification data to the appropriate shelf level, the shelf rail equipment emits an optically perceptible or machine-processable first signal and a camera is used to create a digital image of that shelf on which the shelf rail equipment in question is located, and the computerized identification of the shelf level in the digital image by recognizing the optical signal at which the shelf rail equipment that emits the optical signal is located, and the shelf level data generated from this are sent to the electronic database, preferably by means of radio communication, and stored there.

Particularly preferably, the identification can also be automated, with the shelf rail equipment using the optically perceptible or machine-processable first signal emitting its identification data and the identification data being extracted from the digital image by computer and transmitted together with the shelf level data will.

The computerized processing of images of a scene captured with the help of the camera in the form of still images and video sequences for the purpose of identifying image content or Information content is done with the help of a computer on which software programmed for this purpose is processed. The corresponding programming is part of the routine work for a person skilled in the field of computer-aided image processing.

For the purpose of capturing images, several cameras with corresponding detection areas can be attached, for example, to the ceiling of the sales outlet or to other objects in the sales outlet. These cameras can be connected to the mentioned computer by cable, e.g. by means of Power-over-Ethernet, or by radio, e.g. by means of WLAN, and deliver the captured images digitally to the computer, where the image processing takes place.

However, in order to ensure that the image capture is as unproblematic as possible, it has proven to be advantageous if the shelves themselves are used for the purpose of positioning. For example, the mechanical structure of the shelf itself, such as beams or struts of the shelf, can be used to carry the camera. In this context, it has proven to be particularly advantageous if the camera is installed on a shelf rail of a first shelf and the camera captures a second shelf across a shelf aisle, on which the shelf rail equipment is installed, which has the optically perceptible or machine processable signal. With this arrangement, the otherwise usual additional positioning or alignment considerations or additional mechanical structures for mounting the cameras are completely eliminated. In particular, the shelf rail itself is used to directly attach the camera.

Shelves are usually aligned parallel to one another along shelving aisles and are not necessarily, but often of the same length. Cameras that are attached at different positions along the shelves can therefore easily be installed on both sides of the aisle on the respective shelf and easily capture the opposite shelf. Good detection of the opposite shelf is not impaired even if the shelf aisles run towards each other at an angle or (even on one side) are curved, wavy or circular.

The cameras can have an (auto) focus and zoom function and include a controlled (motorized) adjustable lens, so that the detection area can be adjusted automatically, in particular under computer control.

As mentioned, the rack rail equipment can be implemented in a wide variety of ways and therefore a number of such rack rail equipment can also be installed on the same rack rail. However, it has proven to be particularly advantageous if the rack rail equipment is a rack rail controller that supplies at least one rack rail client installed on its rack rail with electrical power, preferably also in terms of communication technology, and the location of the rack rail controller is used to limit the location of the shelf rail clients to the known extent of the shelf rail.

In this case, the shelf rail (and of course also the shelf rail clients and the shelf rail controller) can be designed to supply the shelf rail clients in a contactless or contact-based manner.

The contactless supply on the shelf rail can be implemented, for example, by integrating NFC communication modules into the shelf rail clients and by integrating a conductor loop configuration in the shelf rail, with the shelf rail controller being designed as an NFC reader in order to control the power supply and to provide the communication technology supply.

For the contact-based supply to the shelf rail, electrical lines can be incorporated into the shelf rail, which run along the longitudinal extension of the shelf rail and can be contacted there. The shelf rail controller and shelf rail clients have contacts to connect to these lines. An electronic communication module each in the controller and the clients enables data exchange as well as an electrical supply via these lines.

In both cases, i.e. both in the case of contactless and contact-based supply on the shelf rails, the shelf rail controllers can be wired, e.g. via LAN, or also wirelessly integrated into a retailer's communication network and thus with a central, local server or with a cloud-based one management software for the purpose of managing the respective equipment.

An essentially standardized communication method or protocol, such as WLAN, ZigBee, BlueTooth, etc., can be used for the radio-based connection. A proprietary communication method or communication protocol can of course also be used for the radio-based connection, as is known, for example, from PCT/EP2014/053376, the disclosure of which with regard to the time slot communication method discussed there being incorporated by reference. In contrast to the system disclosed in PCT/EP2014/053376, however, this time slot communication method is used here for communication between a shelf rail controller access point and a group of shelf rail controllers assigned to this shelf rail controller access point. The shelf rail clients, such as so-called electronic shelf labels or other electronic devices mentioned, can use a completely different communication protocol or method for communicating with the shelf rail controller on the shelf rail.

Since it is known in the system which shelf rail controller supplies which shelf rail clients on its shelf rail, it is actually sufficient to determine the location only for the respective shelf rail controller in order to know at the same time according to the geometry or dimensions of the relevant shelf rail where in something, i.e. limited to the respective shelf rail, the shelf rail clients belonging to the localized shelf rail controller are located.

This group-wise determination of the location of the shelf rail controller on the one hand and its shelf rail clients on the other leads to a significant improvement in the energy balance, because the location discussed can only be carried out with a single device per shelf rail, namely the shelf rail controller, which is the shelf rail controller results in an electrical power requirement for this location activity.

The automatic, computerized derivation of the position of the other shelf rail clients, limited to the known extent of the shelf rail, takes place for these shelf rail clients without any power requirement them. This means that the total energy requirement is reduced globally, i.e. system-wide. This is also advantageous because the individual power requirements of the shelf rail clients are either covered by their own energy store, such as a battery or a rechargeable battery, or must be covered by the energy store of the shelf rail controller. The availability of these energy stores over time is therefore extended or, to put it another way, the frequency of their maintenance in the sense of replacement or recharging is reduced. The discussed improvement in the energy balance also occurs with a wired energy supply for the shelf rail controller, because here too, fewer communication activities are simply necessary for locating the components of the system.

In order to obtain a more precise location for the individual shelf rail clients on a shelf rail, it can be provided that a digital image of the relevant shelf rail is created with the aid of one or the camera(s) already mentioned and the location of the shelf rail is created by computerized image analysis -Clients along the relevant shelf rail is detected. Here, based on the appearance of the individual shelf rail client, computerized conclusions can even be drawn about its identity. For example, the image content of the screen of the shelf rail client can be evaluated in order to identify the shelf rail client, because this screen content is basically known to the computer controlling the system. If there is no screen, other characteristic features of the outer shell of the respective shelf rail client can be used to assign it to at least one equipment class.

Irrespective of whether the affected shelf rail client has a screen or not, it has proven to be particularly advantageous if the shelf rail client uses an optically perceptible or machine-processable second signal emitted by it to submit its identification data and Computerized image analysis, the identification data are extracted and the location of the relevant shelf rail clients is determined along the shelf rail. It is therefore sufficient if, for example, a small light-emitting diode is provided which, for example, emits a light signal, preferably a light, on the front of the shelf rail client emits a modulated light signal (pulse code modulated, brightness or intensity modulated, or mixed, or also modulated in terms of color characteristics), which is used for identification, possibly also for locating the shelf rail client on the relevant shelf rail.

As already mentioned, radio communication can also be used to determine the third coordinate, although the method used to determine the third coordinate differs from that used to determine the two coordinates in the plane. For example, the distance between the shelf levels can be determined with the help of runtime measurements by time-of-flight sensors and/or the shelves can be sorted, i.e. assigned to the appropriate control level, e.g. by determining the signal strength of a radio signal along the third coordinate.

In summary, it can be said that with the measures described, a highly precise planogram can be created, which digitally forms a visual representation of an article placement on shelves. In any case, for the purposes of generating and maintaining a planogram, the third coordinate has proven to be extremely advantageous as a direct representation or indication of the applicable shelf levels. In this planogram, all rack rail equipment as well as the rack rails themselves and, if applicable, other objects that are attached to the rack rails can now also be reproduced in a precisely spatially located manner.

In a further aspect, the plurality of shelf rail controllers mounted or positioned on the shelf rails, the respective position of which has been fixed or otherwise fixed as discussed, may also be configured to emit beacons. A beacon is generally understood to be a radio signal that marks a fixed location, i.e. in this specific case the respective location of the transmitting control rail controller, and that another (in particular portable or essentially freely movable) radio equipment (e.g a radio direction finding system, the radio signal receiver of which is implemented, for example, by a customer's mobile phone or can also be attached to a customer's shopping cart or integrated there may be) allows finding a relative bearing, such as direction and/or distance, to the particular shelf rail controller that is broadcasting.

This radio signal can transmit its own identifier that uniquely identifies it or the identifier of the respective shelf rail controller, with the help of the identifier on the radio equipment or downstream being able to determine which shelf rail controller it is in each case and its position can therefore also be called up is. However, this radio signal can also transmit the position of the respective shelf rail controller as such, so that this position is immediately available to the radio equipment. The radio equipment provides a variety of direction finding results based on the received beacons.

Due to the large number of shelf rail controllers positioned relatively close to each other, there are also a relatively large number of beacons available at the respective location of the radio equipment. The direction finding results obtained from this can be forwarded to a central server via radio technology and processed or evaluated there in a variety of ways, e.g. to determine (the temporal and/or local component) customer flows or dwell times in front of the shelves.

Due to the relatively high local density of the beacons at the respective location of the radio equipment, its location in relation to the locally known shelf rail controllers can be determined with an inaccuracy of a maximum of approx. 20 cm. This allows not only the detection of presence in the vicinity of a shelf, as is the case with conventional systems, but also the relatively precise determination of the location along the shelf, if necessary with the appropriate mobility of the radio equipment along the height of the shelf the localization along this coordinate. In the event that the radio equipment is built into a device that follows the movement of the hand of the wearer, such as a smart watch (e.g. an Apple Watch © or a similar device) or a personal digital worn on the hand Assistant, it can even be automatically recorded where the hand is moved on the shelf, i.e. which floor the hand reaches into, where necessary where products are touched on the respective floor or from where products are taken from the respective floor.

The large number of shelf rail controllers that emit their beacons form a network of locally known radio beacons with a relatively high density, i.e. the basic alga for a radio direction finding system, with the help of which it is even possible to determine the location of portable radio equipment right down to the floors of a shelf. The high density of the shelf rail controllers also makes it possible to keep the transmission power for sending out the beacons relatively low and still have a sufficient number of beacons for direction finding purposes and ultimately the location of the radio equipment at any location between the shelves for the radio equipment. to have equipment available.

These and other aspects of the invention result from the figures discussed below.

Character brief description

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the attached figures using exemplary embodiments, to which the invention is not limited, however. The same components are provided with identical reference symbols in the various figures. They show in a schematic way:

1 shows a shelving arrangement in a shop with shelves of different lengths, viewed from the ceiling to the floor of the shop;

Figure 2 shows the shelving arrangement viewed from the side along the length of the shelves;

3 shows an aisle delimited by two shelves for the purpose of demonstrating a second exemplary embodiment;

4 shows the gait for the purpose of demonstrating a third embodiment.

Description of the exemplary embodiments

FIG. 1 shows a floor plan of a shop 1 in which three shelves RI, R2, R3 are arranged. Each of the shelves RI, R2, R3 has an individual length. All shelves RI - R3 have an identical height and width. A side view of these shelves can be seen in FIG.

Each shelf RI - R3 has five (shelf floors or) shelf levels El - E5 arranged one above the other, with only the top, fifth level E5 being visible in the selected view. In the present case, all the shelves RI - R3 the shelf levels El - E5 on each identical level per level. Of course, this can also be designed differently.

The shelf levels E1-E5 each have a shelf 2 on the left and right side, so that a total of thirty shelves 2 are provided. Each shelf 2 is closed on the outside with a shelf rail 3, which carries a shelf rail controller RC1 - RC30 as a shelf rail equipment, which is designed and intended to control shelf rail clients installed or attached to the respective shelf rail 3 (not shown ) to supply. Of the thirty shelf rail controllers RC1-RC30, only those of the fifth level E5 with the reference symbols RC9, RC10, RC19, RC20, RC29 and EC30 can be seen in the selected view.

Furthermore, two shelf rail equipment access points 4, abbreviated to access point 4, are installed on the ceiling in store 1, which are designed and provided for the radio supply of the shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 using the proprietary time slot communication method specified in the general description. They are connected to a server 5 of business 1 by means of LAN cabling, where management software for managing the rack rail equipment and for goods logistics runs. Due to the simpler representation, the illustration of other network components that are usually used, such as switches, etc., was not shown. With the help of the server 5, the shelf rail clients attached to the respective shelf rails 3 can be supplied with data via the access points 4, each of which is assigned a group of shelf rail controllers RC1-RC30, and via the shelf rail controllers RC1-RC30 data can be retrieved from there. In the case of electronic shelf labels as shelf rail clients, the image content of the individual screens can be defined and status information can be retrieved from the shelf labels.

Furthermore, six UWB radio devices 6 are installed in the shop 1 on its ceiling, the locations of which are known to the server 5 . In the present case, they are also wired to the server 5 of the store by means of 1_AN cabling. However, they can also be connected to this server 5 by radio. The shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC 30 each have two radio modules (not shown in detail), the first radio module being designed and provided for radio communication with the access points 4 and the second radio module being designed and provided for radio communication with the UWB radio devices 6 .

With the help of the UWB radio communication between the UWB radio devices 6 and the shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30, the position of the shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 is determined in the store 1, but with the restriction that only two coordinates of the plane, i.e. the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate of the Cartesian coordinate system shown in FIG. 1 is evaluated. This process is carried out fully automatically under the control of the server 5, which controls the shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 as well as the UWB radio devices 6 in such a way that they carry out the UWB radio communications required for location determination in a manner known per se and the data obtained in the process to the server 5 for further processing and location of the rack rail controllers RC1 - RC30 in the X-Y plane.

In the synopsis of Figures 1 and 2, this results in a pair of coordinates KP for the controllers RC1 - RC 30 with specification of the respective X and Y coordinates in the notation (Xi, Yi):

- RC1, RC3, RC5, RC7, RC9 each a pair of coordinates (XI, Yl),

- RC2, RC4, RC6, RC8, RC10 each a pair of coordinates (X2, Yl),

- RC11, RC13, RC15, RC17, RC19 each a pair of coordinates (X3, Y2),

- RC12, RC14, RC16, RC18, RC20 one coordinate pair each (X4, Y2),

- RC21, RC23, RC25, RC27, RC29 each have a pair of coordinates (X5, Y3) and

- RC22, RC24, RC26, RC28, RC30 one pair of coordinates each (X6, Y3).

The numerical values determined in this way for the actually identical X and Y coordinates can, of course, show slight fluctuations or deviations from one another, but this does not change their sufficient accuracy and meaningfulness, which is necessary for locating the controllers RC1 - RC 30 in the plane and is achieved with the help of UWB radio communication.

The server 5 stores the coordinate pairs (Xi, Yi) of the plane determined in this way for each controller RC1-RC30 together with the respective identification data ID of the respective controller RC1-RC30. in one In a further step, the coordinate pairs (Xi, Yi) are expanded or supplemented by the third coordinate, which is necessary for spatial localization.

This is done on the server 5 by automatically including supplementary data that is stored in a data structure on the server 5 that was previously created.

According to a first exemplary embodiment, the data structure was set up using a portable acquisition device 7 . This can be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). This PDA 7 is operated by an employee of the shop 1 and serves, among other things, to establish a logical link between products (not shown) with electronic labels which are attached to a shelf rail 3 where the product in question is located.

In the present context, however, the PDA 7 is also used to determine the shelf level E1 E2, E3, E4 or E5 for the respective shelf rail controller RC1-RC30. The PDA 7, which is NFC-capable, is held close to the respective shelf rail controller RC1-RC30, which is also NFC-capable, and the respective identification data ID is obtained from this. Then the shelf level is selected on the touchscreen of the PDA 7, to which the relevant shelf rail controller RC1 -RC30 is attached. This input is received by the PDA 7 and translated or converted into shelf level data RED, which represent the respective fixed shelf levels E1 to E5 and transmitted to the server 5 together with the respective identification data ID of the queried controller RC1 - RC30.

This process is indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 by positioning the PDA 7 near the twentieth rack rail controller RC20 and can be repeated for all rack rail controllers RC1-RC30.

The server 5 is for the respective shelf rail controller RC1 - RC30 using the unique identification data ID, which define the relationship to the respective shelf rail controller RC1 - RC30, the previously determined pair of coordinates KP to the for the respective shelf rail controller RC1 - RC30 Fixed Shelf Eben El, E2, E3,

E4 or E5 added and thus completed the three-dimensional localization. The spatial coordinates for the rack rail controllers RC1 - RC30 are as follows:

- RC1 as three-dimensional coordinates (XI, Yl, El),

- RC2 as three-dimensional coordinates (X2, Yl, El),

- RC15 as three-dimensional coordinates (X3, Y2, E3,)

- RC30 as three-dimensional coordinates (X6, Y3, E5).

A corridor between the two shelves R2 and R3 is shown in perspective in FIG.

According to this second exemplary embodiment, the data structure was built up fully automatically. For this purpose, each shelf rail controller RC1 - RC30 is equipped with an LED 8 (LED stands for Light Emitting Diode here) and is designed in such a way that it optically encodes its identification data ID as a flashing signal with the help of a control command from the server 5 LED 8 emits. A camera 9, which films the relevant shelf R2, R3 from diagonally above the relevant shelf R2, R3, captures the flashing sequences of the LEDs 8 together with the shelf rails 3, which are arranged in the shelf levels E1-E5. The detection areas of the two cameras 9 are indicated with broken lines 10 . These digital images are transmitted wirelessly, e.g. via the WLAN network or by cable via a LAN network to the server 5 and are subjected there to a software-based, fully automatic image or video evaluation, from which the data structure is obtained as a result, from which the supplementary data are automatically taken or obtained to supplement the third coordinate. Of course, with this fully automatic evaluation of the images, no static data structure has to be set up in order to be able to obtain the supplementary data from there only after they have been created. Rather, the respective data set of the supplementary data, as soon as it has been created, can be used "on the fly", so to speak, to supplement the third coordinate.

In analogy to the figure 3 is in the figure 4 for the discussion of a third embodiment relating to the structure of the data structure Aisle between the two shelves R2 and R3 shown in perspective, the representation of the shelves R2 and R3 was also reduced to the shelf rails 3.

According to this third exemplary embodiment as well, the data structure was set up fully automatically. In the present case, the shelf rail controllers also have the camera 9 in addition to the LED 8, but in a power-saving and miniaturized design. The cameras 9 positioned on opposite aisle sides record or film the opposite shelf front, including the shelf rails 3 on which the shelf rail controllers are positioned, which, according to the control by the server 5, emit their identification data ID by flashing signals. As discussed above, the digital images obtained in this way are transmitted to the server 5 and evaluated there in order to generate the supplementary data and thus define the third coordinate.

The rack rail controllers RC1 -RC30, which are now located with high precision, form the basis for further system functions.

This includes the inclusion of further shelf rail objects that are attached to the shelf rail of the respective shelf rail controller RC1 - RC 30 in the localization in order to make these shelf rail objects accessible to a planogram. These shelf rail objects can also include simple paper or plastic labels that do not require any electronics. They can be logically assigned to one of the shelf rail controllers via the product information contained on their surface. However, these shelf rail objects also include electronic devices, ie the shelf rail clients, which make their electronic functions accessible to the system or the server 5 via the respective shelf rail controller RC1-RC30. For your precise location, you can use the knowledge on which of the shelf rails 3 they are mounted, which is now clearly assigned to one of the shelf rail controllers RC1-RC10, with the respective shelf rail clients of course also being logically assigned to a single shelf rail controller RC1 -RC30, which is referred to as "binding" in technical jargon. This can be done by image acquisition and evaluation of either their characteristic appearance or their screen content, as discussed. This even allows their position along of the respective shelf rail precisely detect and determine. If the shelf rail clients are also equipped with their own LED to emit a flashing signal, it is only necessary to search for the respective flashing shelf rail client in the images or videos captured by the cameras and to assign it to the relevant shelf rail 3 in order to find the three-dimensional location of the relevant shelf rail client.

If the shelf rail clients are also designed to flash their own identification data, they can be identified together with their location by evaluating the images or videos captured with the help of a camera.

However, I also use the high-precision rack rail controllers RC1 - RC30 for high-precision object localization and tracking. In contrast to a few UWB radio devices distributed on the ceiling of store 1, the shelves RI - R3 themselves with their built-in shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 are now the anchor points for the object localization or in the dynamic sense for the object Persecution. Due to their location directly in the shelves RI - R3, which form the "side walls" of aisles, they allow a much more precise localization of an object that is being moved along the aisles equipped with a UWN radio device. The transmission power for the UWB radio communication can be reduced accordingly, because the location-variable UWB radio device is always in the immediate vicinity of the fixed and locally known UWB radio modules of the shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 on the "side walls". This contributes to the energy-efficient use of this technology. In addition, only one group (eg only 1-10 units in the immediate vicinity of the object) of rack rail controllers RC1-RC30 that are more or less directly adjacent to the object can also be used for the purpose of determining the location of the mobile UWB radio device. This group of shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 active for the purpose of locating and tracking the mobile UWB radio can be dynamically adapted to the respective location of the mobile UWB radio or its change in location. The active sub-group of shelf rail controllers RC1 - RC30 used to locate the object is therefore continuously adapted to the movement of the object and "follows" the object or the object. "accompanies" the object through the store. Other RC1 - RC30 shelf rail controllers that are positioned further away from the object to be tracked and are therefore not required for locating the object, can be deactivated. This reduces the energy consumption of the system continues, in particular to the absolutely necessary extent for the purpose of tracking the location of the moving object. The moving object, which also has a UWB radio device, can be, for example, a PDA of an employee of business 1 or a customer or also in a mobile phone of Customers can be integrated. Such a UWB radio device can also be integrated into the electronics of a (smart) shopping cart. These measures can be used for high-precision indoor navigation in business premises.

What all of these measures have in common is that they are applied under the control of a higher-level management instance, such as the server 5 or the cloud-based management software. This means that the respective administrative authority initiates the localization measures discussed by computerized control of the respective system components or controls the implementation of the localization measures.

It should also be noted that the shelf rail controllers mentioned, as well as the shelf rail clients or the electronic devices in general, have electronics with the help of which, possibly by executing software, the different functions are implemented. The electronics can be constructed discretely or by means of integrated electronics or a combination of both. Microcomputers, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), possibly in combination with analog or digital electronic peripheral components, can also be used.

It should also be mentioned that the shelving arrangement shown in FIGS. 1-4 was of course only configured in such a simple manner for purposes of explanation. The measures discussed can also be applied to significantly more complex arrangements of shelves and shelf rails without being inventive, in particular also to configurations in which several shelves and shelf rails are lined up next to one another. Finally, it is pointed out once again that the figures described in detail above are only exemplary embodiments which can be modified in a wide variety of ways by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. For the sake of completeness, it is also pointed out that the use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not rule out the possibility that the relevant characteristics can also be present more than once.

Claims

Expectations

1. A method for locating an unknown location of rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) positioned on a rack rail (3), the method comprising the following method steps, namely:

- automatically determining a location of the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) in a plane using radio communication between the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) and locally known radio devices (4; 6) and

- automatically supplementing the location in the plane with a third coordinate to define the location of the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) in space by using supplement data, the supplement data representing the third coordinate and in relation to the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein for the automatic determination of the location in the plane, ultra-wideband radio communication between locally known ultra-wideband radio devices (6), in particular access points equipped therewith, which are at different locally known positions each at a distance from the shelf rail Equipment (RC1 - RC30) are positioned and the Shelf Rail Equipment (RC1 - RC30) is used.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the supplementary data is obtained from a data structure stored in an electronic database and the data structure indicates at which shelf level (El- E5) of a shelf (RI - R3) as the third coordinate the relevant shelving equipment (RC1 - RC30) is installed.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the data structure by detecting identification data of the shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) and assigning the identification data to that shelf level (El - E5) on which the shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) is located.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein for the purpose of assigning the identification data to the appropriate shelf level (El - E5) using a portable detection device (7) automatically from the shelf rail equipment (Rcl - RC30) the identification data are read out and shelf level Data are generated by receiving an input for defining the shelf level (El - E5) in the detection device (7) and the identification data together with the shelf level data to the electronic database, preferably using radio communication, transmitted and stored there will.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein for the purpose of assigning the identification data to the appropriate shelf level (El - E5), the shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) emits an optically perceptible or machine-processable first signal and with the aid of a camera (9). digital image of that shelf (RI - R3) is created on which the relevant shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) is located, and computerized in the digital image by recognizing the optical signal that shelf level (El - E5) is identified on which the shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) that emits the optical signal is located, and shelf level data generated from this is transmitted to the electronic database, preferably with the aid of radio communication, and stored there.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the shelf rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) uses the optically perceptible or machine-processable first signal to deliver its identification data and the identification data is extracted from the digital image in a computerized manner and together with the shelf levels -data are transmitted.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims 6 - 7, wherein the camera (9) is installed on a shelf rail (3) of a first shelf (RI - R3) and the camera (9) over a shelf aisle a second shelf (RI - R3) on which the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) is installed, which emits the optically perceptible or machine-processable signal.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30) is a rack rail controller that supplies at least one rack rail client installed on its rack rail (3) with electrical power, preferably also in terms of communication technology, and the Location of the shelf rail controller is used to constrain the location of the shelf rail clients to the known extent of the shelf rail (3).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a digital image of the relevant shelf rail (3) is created using a camera (9) and the location of the shelf rail client (RC1 - RC30) along the relevant shelf rail (3) is determined by computerized image analysis .

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the shelf rail client submits its identification data with the aid of an optically perceptible or machine-processable second signal emitted by it and the identification data are extracted during the computerized image evaluation and the location of the relevant shelf rail client along the shelf rail ( 3) is detected.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rack rail equipment (RC1 - RC30), in particular implemented as a rack rail controller, is designed to emit beacons.