WO2022224044A1

WO2022224044A1 - Method, system and apparatus for automated authentication and assessment of precious items

Info

Publication number: WO2022224044A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/050079
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amar PRABHU; Jigar Vora; Subhojit BASU
Original assignee: Prabhu Amar; Jigar Vora; Basu Subhojit
Priority date: 2021-04-22
Filing date: 2022-01-20
Publication date: 2022-10-27

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus, method and system for capturing and verification of a user identity, automated authentication of precious items and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked to said user, all configured for use within an apparatus being a kiosk. The present invention also related to a Gold Teller System (600) comprising: a plurality of kiosk apparatuses (601) spread geographically across different locations; a plurality of remote terminals (602) located at select locations and being in connection with said kiosk apparatuses (601); a Kiosk Connection Control System (603) comprising a module stored in a cloud network enabling connection between said kiosk apparatuses (601) and said remote terminals (602); and a data warehouse (604) to store data and/or information relating to the Gold Teller System (600) being connected to all other components of the system (600), i.e. said kiosk apparatuses (601), said remote terminals (602) and the Kiosk Connection Control System (603).

Description

TITLE: METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED

AUTHENTICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF PRECIOUS ITEMS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of authentication and assessment of precious items, a term that encompasses decorative objects worn on a person’s clothes or body that are usually made from valuable metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones or the like. Examples of precious items include but are not limited to platinum, gold, silver only and may include other metal(s) or stone(s) which are deemed precious or other items such as jewellery, coins, gold bars, bullion as well as other types of items made of precious metal such as gold, silver etc, for example decorative items, cutlery, figurine, watch etc. The present invention relates to a method, apparatus and system relating to authentication of said precious metal items, authentication of identity of a user for financial transactions purposes and for a secured storage and retrieval of said precious items.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus and system for automated authentication and assessment of precious items for the primary purpose of assaying the pieces of such precious items to determine the value i.e. to determine the monetary value thereof which can be used for financial transactions purposes. In particular, the present invention encompasses a method, apparatus and system empowering the automatic authentication and assessment of the precious items by utilizing computer vision and associated data capture techniques in conjunction with multiple testing methodologies along with a connected secure storage and retrieval system for said precious items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Precious items, for example, gold has long been a valued commodity world over, and particularly in India where it is considered auspicious, and has been in use for centuries in the form of jewellery, coins and other assets. Though gold is a highly liquid asset, it wasn’t until recently that consumers leveraged it effectively to meet their liquidity and financial needs in an organized institutional manner. Indian households typically have an emotional attachment and sense of personal belonging to the gold they own, which is usually in the form of jewellery, coins, or bars. Thus, gold owned by Indian families is leveraged for liquidity or financial purposes unless in extreme need. As a consequence, monetary value of a gold investment is rarely realized. But, pledging gold ornaments and other gold assets to local pawnbrokers and moneylenders to avail loans has been prevalent in Indian society for many decades, particularly in rural areas in an unorganized manner. To this end, over the past decade, the organized sector including banks and NBFCs (Non-Banking Finance Corporations) have taken the lead. The urban populace is also beginning to realize the potential value that can be realized through gold, which has led to rapid growth of the gold loan market and development of gold related products which helps in monetizing this asset in multiple ways like gold backed card instruments and the Gold Monetization Scheme launched by the Government of India.

The gold loan market in India is the leading market in the world probably due to the large demand of gold by Indians. India has the largest gold stock in the world, i.e. more than 24,000 Metric Tons of gold held by the domestic households and temples. Due to the presence of such large quantum of gold, newer and unique ways of using the gold within the economy are being developed to provide wider options to the customer than just gold loans.

The most common product currently available in this domain is gold loan. Majority of the banks and NBFCs have physical branches throughout the country with employees stationed at these branches to cater to gold loan customers leading to a high operating cost of maintaining both the establishment and human labour involved. The effect of maintaining physical branches also lead to operational inefficiencies like underutilized human labour as the flow of customer traffic in branches is intermittent; more time- consuming process of the financial transaction in terms of assaying, storage, and movement of precious metal items as the employees must manage one transaction at a time manually. Due to the disadvantageous cost economics and unavailability of skilled human labour, the physical branch with manpower strategy has led to limited geographical and customer (low ticket size) penetration leaving a large gold loan market unaddressed or unorganized (at the mercy of local pawnbrokers with high interest rates) and denying the customers of the best solutions of financial independence existing in the country.

Further, the person having a precious item for example gold or other precious metal usually has a concern that if needed to sell such items whether the price being offered is based upon an exchange rate market price for such gold or precious metal and whether he or she is getting a fair deal and fair assessment of the same to determine its value. Information technology (IT) is playing an increasingly important role in the rapid growth of the gold loan market. IT provides scalability to gold loan businesses, enabling quick roll-out of branches and efficient penetration of the underserved markets and provision of accurate real-time information has led to faster decision making and reduced turnaround time for loan disbursals. IT has significantly reduced human intervention via automation and thereby, the approval, disbursal and repayment processes have become much faster, simpler, and more robust. Better adherence to lending regulations (KYC, priority lending, etc.), consonance in firm-wide lending activities, efficient tracking of borrower accounts, process transparency and minimization of operational costs are some of the major benefits realized using Information technology.

There is therefore a constant need to provide a method, apparatus and system for automated identity verification of a user and automated authentication, secure storage and retrieval of precious items for the primary purpose of assaying the pieces to determine the monetary value of the same and establishing an end to end financial transaction process with significantly higher self operating elements and lower cost economics. One of the transactions to be achieved is the disbursal of gold loans but the present invention is not limited only to disbursal of gold loans and can include and be used for multiple other forms of financial transactions which includes dealing with precious metal items. The present invention, therefore, is directed to a method, apparatus and system to achieve this objective among others and to address the above-discussed problems and shortcomings in the existing art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus being a kiosk for automated identity verification of a user and automated authentication of precious items for the primary purpose of assaying the pieces of such precious items to determine the value i.e. monetary value of the same along with secure storage and retrieval of the precious items within the apparatus linked with unique verification of the identity of the user approaching the setup with the precious items.

Further aspects of the present invention relate to method(s) and system related to said apparatus (kiosk).

The present invention relates to an apparatus, method and system for capturing and verification of a user identity, automated authentication of precious items and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked to said user, all configured for use within an apparatus being a kiosk.

In one aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus for automated verification of a user identity, automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked uniquely to said user, all configured for use within a kiosk, the apparatus comprising: at least one image capturing device for capturing image(s) of objects outside the apparatus; one or more input and output means and/or interface and/or user interface module; at least one deposit shutter for depositing the precious item into said apparatus for its assay; at least one another image capturing device for capturing image(s) of objects inside said apparatus; at least one robotic arm configured to pick, drop and move the precious items at various location coordinates across one or more assaying process steps within said apparatus; and at least one vault box wherein the precious item is securely stored inside said apparatus having geo tracking features with track details like content attributes and geo location of said vault box. Said apparatus configured to provide an assay for the precious items based on image- based stone weight deduction calculation, scan-based deduction calculation, handling of precious metal items using force sensitive feedback loop, robotic abrasive appraisal and optical system based purity calculation. In addition, the apparatus having a mechanism to pack and store the precious items in said vault box within the storage array inside the apparatus structure, wherein each vault box being uniquely identifiable with the user details. A storage array in the rear end of said apparatus is provided for a secured storage of said vault box. A gantry system configured to pick, drop and move said vault box within said apparatus. The operation of the robotic arm controlled by a remote terminal connected to said apparatus having one or more operator(s). A rear door is provided to replace the vault boxes in the storage array of said apparatus.

Said robotic arm is a six degree of freedom robotic arm connected to the remote terminal via a Robot Operating System controlled via motion control commands input from a multi-channel input device on a different system and the commands are transmitted via internet to pick, drop and move the precious items or other items deposited by the user within the kiosk apparatus and is equipped with an image recognition system to interpret the images captured by the image capturing device.

The gantry system comprises one or more motors and/or controllers which enable the movement of vault boxes (107) in X, Y and Z axis / planes inside the apparatus with the help of linear actuators.

The storage array demarcated by guides / notches for box placement and with enough spacing to enable QR Code, NFC or RFID reading, wherein user details and other information like content and attributes of the content is linked with in a database for fast and secured storage and retrieval purposes.

The image capturing device capable of capturing image(s) of the user and information/documents presented by the user. The image capturing device also capable of capturing image(s) of the precious item including the appearance, shape, size measurements (length, width and depth) and color and identification markings or inscriptions on the surface of the metal part or the gemstone of the precious items. The captured images includes the form of still images, video images or laser based topography models of the precious items. The image capturing device comprises an analog or digital still image camera, a video camera, an optical camera, a laser camera, a laser or 3D image scanner, a facial recognition camera and/or any other device capable of capturing high resolution images of the precious metal item.

Said operator(s) at the remote terminal interpret the images captured by the image capturing devices of the robotic arm and feed instructions to control the robotic arm for the pick, drop and movement of the precious items within the apparatus structure.

The input means and/or interface and/or user interface module comprises at least one display unit enabling input of the details with respect to the identification of the user and/or other inputs to said apparatus, at least one speaker providing audio information to assist in assessment of said precious item, at least one fingerprint scanner enabling said apparatus to verify said user’s credentials and at least one printer to generate a confirmation receipt for user’s record.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method for automated verification of a user identity, automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked uniquely to said user by an apparatus, the method comprising the steps of: commencing deposit process of precious item into said apparatus prompting the user to awaken the display unit of the apparatus by tapping the touch screen interface thereon; prompting the user to authenticate his/her identity via the KYC (Know Your Customer) process comprising the validation of phone number, biometric based identity validation among other validations relating to the user; cross verifying the information provided/captured relating to the user to establish genuinity of the identify of the user; opening a deposit shutter and prompting the user to place precious items in a vault box having no upper lid after completion of the user inputs of all the required information for KYC and a successful validation thereof; closed shut automatically the deposit shutter when the user confirms the deposit via a prompt confirming the same on a display unit; commencing the automated process of assessment of the precious items deposited by the user for determination of its value by recording at first the gross weight of all the precious items; taking multiple images of the precious items deposited by an image capturing device; and displaying the image(s) and gross weight of the deposited precious items through the display unit to inform the user of such details. The automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: searching for a remote terminal available for assessment of the deposited precious item by a robotic arm by sending out a signal to a cloud network; establishing a successful connection based on availability by the cloud network between an available remote terminal with the robotic arm of said apparatus; transmitting image feed being captured by the image capturing device configured within the apparatus to the remote terminal; operating the robotic arm from the linked remote location through one or more operator(s); picking and moving the precious items one at a time from the vault box with the robotic arm and placing on a weighing scale to record the weighing value of each of the items; recording gross weight of each precious item one by one by a weighing scale; capturing image(s) of the precious item one by one being weighed by the weighing scale by the image capturing device; calculating deductions for stones, damages etc. in the precious item; rubbing gently each of the deposited precious item by the robotic arm against a touchstone to ensure and ascertain that the metal part of the precious item is genuine in nature; calculating a net weight of each of the deposited precious item; and displaying the net weight of the precious item on the user interface together with the monetary value of the precious item to the user.

The automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: prompting the user to enter his/her bank account details upon acceptance of the offer by the user; conducting a penny testing; covering the vault box with deposited precious items stored therein post successful penny testing with a lid; moving and storing the covered/sealed vault box in a storage array; disbursing the offered amount accepted by the user in the bank account of the user; and printing an acknowledgement receipt confirming the disbursal of the transaction through a printer.

The automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: placing a lid onto the vault box and latching the lid with the help of a gantry system by applying a gentle force; linking information of the user with the unique code of the vault box having the precious items deposited of the user stored therein; identifying an empty storage slot in the storage array; moving the vault box to the identified storage slot by the gantry system for a secured storage; and transmitting the storage array coordinate details having the stored vault box and other user details captured during the process to a cloud network database.

The automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: removing the occupied vault boxes from the storage array of the apparatus and moved to a central vault for safe keeping until required for retrieval or other purposes by the operator/user.

The automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious by the apparatus items comprising: receiving a request from the user to collect the precious item deposited by the user in the apparatus; prompting the user to make any pending payments due from the user; scheduling an appointment for the user to visit a select apparatus upon confirmation of the pending payment and/or payment to collect the user’s deposited precious items; moving the vault box linked with the user upon a successful appointment from the central vault to the apparatus selected by the user before the scheduled date and time of visit of the user; prompting the user to enter the unique user/customer ID in the apparatus via various input methods and means on the date and time of the scheduled appointment; retrieving and loading the data linked to the user from the central database on the apparatus; prompting the user to enter the KYC details for identification verification purpose; prompting the user to wait upon successful KYC verification while the apparatus retrieves the vault box containing the user’s precious metal items; identifying the location coordinates of the vault box linked to the user being securely stored in the storage array of the apparatus; moving the identified vault box by gantry system from the storage array to the front of the apparatus wherein the vault box made accessible to the user through the deposit shutter; opening the deposit shutter and prompting the user to collect the vault box through the display unit from the deposit shutter area; prompting the user confirm the successful collection of the box by agreeing to terms of declaration visible to the user on the display unit; closing the deposit shutter upon the user agreeing to the terms of declaration; and generating a closure receipt from the printer containing the summary of the conducted transaction.

The step of displaying the net weight of the precious item comprising providing the user options to accept or reject an offer price based thereon, wherein the user rejects the offer, the step of rejection comprising: terminating the transaction and placing a lid on the vault box to cover and seal the vault box; moving the sealed vault box near the deposit shutter; and prompting the user to collect the sealed vault box with the precious items stored therein from the deposit shutter.

Yet another aspect of the present of the invention relates to a Gold Teller System comprising: a plurality of kiosk apparatuses spread geographically across different locations; a plurality of remote terminals located at select locations and being in connection with said kiosk apparatuses; a Kiosk Connection Control System comprising a module stored in a cloud network enabling connection between said kiosk apparatuses and said remote terminals; and a data warehouse to store data and/or information relating to the Gold Teller System being connected to all other components of the system, i.e. said kiosk apparatuses, said remote terminals and the Kiosk Connection Control System.

The Kiosk Connection Control System is configured to ensure optimized allocation of the kiosk apparatuses amongst the remote terminals and ensures a secure connection to transmit signals and conduct intended operations. Further, the connection between all the components of the Gold Teller System i.e. said kiosk apparatuses, said remote terminals and the Kiosk Connection Control System configured to be established over the internet.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of operation of the Gold Teller System comprising a plurality of kiosk apparatuses being in connection with a plurality of remote terminals, the connection being optimized and secured by the Kiosk Connection Control System with continuous data exchange with data warehouse, the method comprising: receiving a signal to the Kiosk Connection Control System to search and allocate a remote terminal to a kiosk apparatus having a vault box with precious items deposited by a user to operate the robotic arm of said apparatus and conduct the precious item assaying; sending a signal to all the connected remote terminals in the Gold Teller System and identifying the most optimum remote terminal to be connected to the select apparatus from multiple kiosk apparatuses based on a module in the Kiosk Connection Control System to find an available remote terminal from multiple remote terminals; establishing a secure connection between the available and identified remote terminal and apparatus ensuring a safe transaction eliminating any kind of external interference or intrusion in the connection through Kiosk Connection Control System; retrieving and writing user/customer data and other details of the transaction and operation continuously to and from the data warehouse; and terminating the connection between the identified remote terminal and apparatus, making the remote terminal available for the next apparatus requiring the connection upon the end of a transaction.

Accordingly, one of the primary object of the present invention is to provide a method, apparatus and system for automated identity verification of a user and automated authentication, secure storage and retrieval of precious items for the primary purpose of assaying the pieces to determine the monetary value of the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus having a user interface wherein a user interacts with to provide information with respect to the identification verification, authentication assessment, storage and retrieval of precious items.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus having a user interface wherein a user interacts with to provide identification and account details of the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus having a mechanism to verify the user identity through the verification of the identification documents provided by the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which comprises a deposit shutter and a vault box for the user to deposit to and retrieve precious items for example, gold jewels from said apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which comprises a robotic arm having image capturing devices to pick, drop and move the precious items deposited by the user within the apparatus structure. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which comprises a remote terminal wherein an operator interprets the images captured by the image capturing devices of the robotic arm and feed instructions via motion control commands input from a multi-channel input device on a different system and the commands are transmitted via internet to control the robotic arm for the pick, drop and movement of the precious items within the apparatus structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which provides an assay for the precious items based on image-based stone weight deduction calculation, scan-based deduction calculation, handling of precious items using force sensitive feedback loop, robotic abrasive appraisal and optics-based purity calculation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus having a mechanism to pack and securely store the precious items in a vault box within the storage array inside the apparatus structure, wherein each vault box is uniquely identifiable/identified with the user details i.e. the user who is the owner of such precious item.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus in the form of a gantry system which can move the vault box, empty or containing the precious items, from and to different location coordinates within the apparatus structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus in the form of a storage array which can store multiple vault boxes, empty or containing the precious items, in an array, with each position linked to the user details for fast storage and retrieval purposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system, and apparatus in which multiple kiosk apparatuses are connected with multiple remote terminals, optimized by a uniquely coded logic, connection being secure to prevent any external intrusions. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus directed to an automated precious metal items authentication process, with minimal human intervention, which develops and disseminates information enabling a user to distinguish between genuine and non-genuine precious items. The systems and apparatus may work together with third-party hardware or software and, with internet access, capable of being utilized 24/7, 365 days a year.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which enables a user to receive directly at a point of sale, or anywhere in public or private, information regarding whether an item is genuine or not. Information regarding genuineness of an item may be provided to the user before, during, or after a monetary or non-monetary exchange or transaction between individuals or entities.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus directed to storage and retrieval mechanism for precious items, wherein a user can access apparatus 24/7, 365 days a year to store or retrieve the precious items enabling him/her to have a safe and secure option with round the clock accessibility and faster transaction timeline because of uniquely identifiable storage / vault boxes. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which captures and authenticates user details for the purposes of financial transactions and relationships to be established with the user with no human intervention. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which captures and authenticates user details for the purposes of financial transactions and relationships to be established with the user with regard to the automated monetary value determined based upon the current exchange rate market price of the precious items, authentication process conducted on the precious items deposited by the user.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which remove any scope of weight and volume error in the assessment of precious item as well fraud and theft and any sort of miscalculations and miscommunications related therewith.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method, system and apparatus which reduces fraud by capturing information/data provided by user based upon questions and/or to do directions provided to said user by//through user interface module. The user interface module includes display screen(s) having graphical user interfaces, keypad(s), touchpad(s), scanner(s), biometric for example fingerprint, eye, face reader(s)/scanner(s), one or more camera(s), audio/video announcer(s), card reader(s)/scanner(s) or the like etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the claims to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

While the disclosed subject matter is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit aspects of the invention to the embodiments described. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention are described in the following description and in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus for automated verification of user identity, automated authentication and secure storage & retrieval of precious items configured in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention for use within a kiosk. Fig. 2 illustrates a flowchart showing exemplary method(s) of verification of user identity, automated authentication and storage methods performed by the apparatus of Fig. 1 in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 2A illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method for placing precious metal items inside the apparatus for further assessment by the apparatus.

Fig. 2B illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method for the assessment of the precious metal items by the apparatus in order to ascertain its value.

Fig. 2C illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method for the storage of the precious metal items by the apparatus post acceptance of the offer by the user.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method of the retrieval of the precious metal items contained in a vault box from the apparatus.

Figs. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a Gold Teller System consisting of multiple kiosk apparatuses and multiple remote terminals as described in Fig 1, connected in pairs via Kiosk Connection Control System and data warehouse connected to all other elements in the Gold Teller System to continuously exchange and store data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Exemplary embodiments are described to illustrate the subject matter of the disclosure, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there will be described herein specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments detailed herein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the various elements described and/or shown may be arranged in various combinations and configurations without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular indefinite articles "a", "an", and the definite article "the" should be considered to include or otherwise cover both single and plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. In other words, these articles are applicable to one or more referents. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term "or" is generally employed to include or otherwise cover "and/or" unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

Referring to FIG. 1 , it illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus 100 which is used for verification of a user details, automated authentication, secure storage and retrieval of precious items configured in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention for use within a kiosk.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 , the apparatus 100 having a secured housing comprising at least one image capturing device 101 for capturing image(s) of a user (not shown) and information/documents presented by the user for his/her identity verification. The apparatus 100 is provided with one or more input means and/or interface and/or user interface module comprising, a display unit 102, a speaker 103 providing audio and/or video including information in the form of images etc. to assist the user in identity verification and in assessment of the precious item and a fingerprint scanner 104 which enables the apparatus 100 to verify the user’s credentials/identity. Further embodiments for verification of the users can incorporate optical scanners like retina scan etc. The display unit 102 enables the user to input the details with respect to his/her identification and/or other inputs to the apparatus 100 and may have touch, audio or the like or combination thereof enabled input features. The display unit 102 is also used to display other information and images relating to the precious item once deposited into the apparatus 100 through a deposit shutter 106 which is used to receive the precious item and closes once the user deposits the same therethrough. It is to be understood that the deposit shutter closes before any processing is carried out by the apparatus 100. The apparatus 100 is also provided with a vault box 107 wherein the precious item is deposited. The vault box 107 has a shape of an open box. A robotic arm 108 is configured within the apparatus 100 to pick, move and drop the precious items at various location coordinates within the apparatus 100 setup, the operation of the robotic arm 108 is controlled by a remote terminal 112 connected to the apparatus 100 having one or more operator(s). The remote terminal 112 is at a remote or otherwise location from the apparatus 100. The operator(s) at the remote terminal 112 act on interpreting the images and/or information captured by another image capturing device 109 configured within the apparatus 100. Post authentication of the precious items via computer vision, the precious item stored back inside the vault box 107 and moved by a gantry system 110 to a storage array 111 towards the rear end of the apparatus 100 for a secured storage. The storage of precious item though is not limited to rear end and can be stored to any other location within the apparatus 100. Once the whole process of automated assaying and secured storage of precious items completed subject to acceptance of/by the user a printer 105 configured within the kiosk apparatus 100 generates a confirmation receipt for the user’s record. The apparatus also having a rear door 113 which is used to replace or load vault boxes 107 containing the user’s precious metal items with empty vault boxes 107.

The housing of apparatus 100 is having a secured construction and designed to be secure and difficult to break into and/or tampered with. The apparatus 100 further comprising one or more module(s) to carry out the various operation(s) described herein-after within and/or by the apparatus 100 wherein said module(s) may be software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

The image capturing device 101 of the apparatus 100 is capable of capturing image(s) of the user and information/documents presented by the user. The image capturing device 101 , not being limited to, comprises an analog or digital still image camera, a video camera, an optical camera, a laser camera, a laser or 3D image scanner, a facial recognition camera and/or any other device capable of capturing high resolution images. The image capturing device 101 is configured to capture at least a portion of the user's facial information and includes, not being limited to a facial recognition camera. The vault box 107 is made of acrylic material, moulded with coating(s) including coating of velvet or of such material(s) to store precious items having features assuring minimum and/or no damage possible to store user’s precious items therein. The vault box 107 is also provided with geo tracking features with track details like content attributes and geo location of the box. Thus, the location of a vault box 107 having any user’s precious item can be tracked and known 24/7.

The robotic arm 108 of the present invention, not being limited to, is a six degree of freedom robotic arm connected to the remote terminal 112 via a Robot Operating

System, to grip and move the precious items or other items within the kiosk apparatus 100.

The physical characteristics of the precious item including the appearance, shape, size measurements (length, width and depth) and color are captured through the images taken by the image capturing device 109. The captured images can be in the form of still images, video images or laser based topography models of the precious items. Exemplary image capturing device 109, not being limited to, comprises an analog or digital still image camera, a video camera, an optical camera, a laser camera, a laser or 3D image scanner, or any other device capable of capturing high resolution images of the precious metal item. The image capturing device 109 is capable of capturing identification markings or inscriptions on the surface of the metal part or the gemstone of the precious item. The gantry system 110 comprises one or more motors and/or controllers which enable the movement of vault boxes 107 in X, Y and Z axis / planes inside the apparatus 100 with the help of linear actuators. Linear actuators consist of, not being limited to, an arrangement of rods operated via gears, motors, pneumatic, hydraulic, magnetic control or the like which move in a straight line.

The storage array 111 is where the vault boxes 107 are arranged and kept within the apparatus 100 wherein arrays being demarcated by guides / notches for box placement and with enough spacing to enable QR Code, NFC or RFID reading (including similar technologies), wherein user details and other information like content and attributes of the content is linked with in a database.

The robotic arm 108 is configured to be controlled and operated via a remote terminal 112 at a remote or otherwise location from the apparatus 100 and is equipped with an image recognition system to interpret the images captured by the image capturing device 109 configured within the apparatus. The robotic arm 108 is provided with an input mechanism for the operator to issue instructions / commands for the remote operation of the robotic arm 108.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it illustrates a flowchart steps of exemplary method(s) for a user detail capturing, identification and verification; authentication of a precious item and the aspects of further processing based on such assessment and storage of said precious item.

The method starts at step 210, where a user being interested to enrol himself/herself is required to enter his/her personal details into the apparatus 100. To this end, the user is prompted to awaken the display unit of the apparatus by tapping the touch screen interface thereon.

Thereafter, the user is prompted to authenticate his/her identity via the KYC (Know Your Customer) process in the following steps. The KYC process includes the validation of phone number, biometric based identity validation among other validations relating to the user. One of the primary reasons for KYC verification of a user is to verify the credentials of the user.

At step 220, the user is prompted to enter and verify his/her phone number, date of birth, and other relevant and required information to capture personal profile details of the user. At this stage, the user is prompted to enter his/her registered phone number, name and date of birth through the input interface i.e. through the touch panel provided on the display unit of the apparatus. This stage of verification is important because it validates the communication details of the user so that the user can be kept updated post such verification. As the user enters a valid mobile number and clicks on the submit button, a One Time Password (OTP) is generated and sent to the number entered by the user. The user is, thereafter, presented with an option to enter the received OTP on the input interface of the display unit. After successful OTP submission and its verification, the user phone number is validated and user related information such as name, DOB, address, gender fetched from the respective Telecom Provider. It can be noted though the process of OTP verification can be unsuccessful due to multiple reasons, including entering the wrong OTP or entering the wrong contact number. In such cases, the apparatus provides an option to the user to resend OTP by touching on the resend option present on the display unit. An option of changing contact number is also provided in case the user has entered an incorrect contact number.

Moving further, the user is asked to enter his/her identity credentials, such as Aadhar Card details at step 230, through the input interface i.e. through the touch panel provided on the display unit of the apparatus. Aadhar Card is the most popular way of individual identity authentication and validation in India. It is used to authenticate the identity of an individual by validating the details mentioned on Aadhar Card with the details available with the database of Aadhar Card maintained by union government. The verification and authentication of identity credentials of a user is not limited to Aadhar Card and may include other identify credentials databases, means and methods. Being so the goal is to verify and validate the identity credentials of a user with authenticated information.

After verification and authentication of the identify credentials of the user, the user is prompted via the display unit to enter the biometric details through the input means i.e. the biometric scanner wherein a user is prompted through the display unit to place a finger on the fingerprint scanner at step 240. The input means including a fingerprint scanner may include a plurality of biometric sensors. During use of the input interface by a user at step 240, the input interface provides captured biometric data to a user authentication module for every interaction with the user interface by the touch input elements of the user based on the biometric data. To this end, the input may further include a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, or a touch panel having a graphical user interface provided on display unit. To further verify the KYC details, at step 250, an OTP is sent to the user on the contact number linked with his/her Aadhar Card. The user is asked to enter the received OTP on the display screen. Once a user enters the received OTP it is matched with the OTP sent and then validated. The Aadhar number along with the biometric information of the Aadhar card holder (user) is matched with the biometric details of said Aadhar number holder (user) stored in the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) for authentication based on the information available therein.

Thereafter, the user is prompted next to enter his/her Pan Card number at step 260 through the input interface 102 i.e. through the touch panel provided on the display unit of the apparatus. A PAN (Permanent Account Number) card is used for all the income-earning individuals and non- individuals by the Government of India. Its primary objective is to identify and verify the identity of the individuals and other entities before they get into any financial transactions. Since the income of a person or entity is tagged to the PAN number, it is a useful verification document. It can echo the essential monetary dealings like salary received in the bank accounts, purchase of any assets or land beyond the income earned by the individual. This step of verification is not limited to verifying PAN Card which is generally used for the income tax department validation process and may include other identify credentials databases, means and methods. Being so the goal is to verify and validate the credentials of a user with authenticated information. Once his/her unique Pan Card number is entered by the user, the user is prompted to capture an image/phot of said PAN card using an image capturing device as described in Fig 1. From the captured image, a process of extraction is carried out including, auto reading the individual PAN card and extracting images or text as output by taking the PAN card image as input. After that the PAN card details of the user is fetched from the official government data repository and verified by matching the fetched data with the entered data. For a successful validation, fetched data must match with the data entered by the user. At the final step 270 of user verification, a live image of the user is captured by an image capturing device. The captured images of the user for a successful verification and authentication is compared with other images of the user (either Aadhar card image or PAN card image or both). A percentage match score is accordingly generated by comparing the two images of the user. The face match ratio, thus, enables the entity verification and fraud detection for individuals (users).

Moving next, cross verification of details captured via Aadhar, PAN, from Telecom Provider and details entered by the user is conducted at step 280 to establish genuinity of the identity of the user, communication details, including financial credibility of an individual is carried out to progress further to next steps.

As an example, above explained process steps 230 to 280 have been elaborated taking into account the documents which are usually used in India to check and validate the credentials of an individual. It can be understood that such documents and/or requirements can vary depending on other countries to check and validate the credentials of a user of the method, apparatus and system of the present invention.

After completion of the user inputs of all the required information for KYC and a successful validation thereof, the user is prompted by the apparatus to place precious items at step 290, for example jewels in a vault box as shown in Fig. 1 .

Referring now to Fig. 2A, it illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method of placing precious items at step 290 of Fig. 2 for further assessment by the apparatus.

The process commences at step 290A wherein the deposit shutter (106) of the apparatus opens and the user is prompted to place the precious items for example, jewels, in the vault box provided with no upper lid at step 290B. Once the precious items to be assessed/assayed by the apparatus is placed/deposited in the vault box by the user, the deposit shutter is closed shut automatically when the user at step 290C confirms the deposit via a prompt confirming the same on the display unit. Thereafter, the apparatus commences the automated process of assessment of the precious items deposited by the user for determination of its value by recording at first the gross weight of all the precious items at step 290D. Thereafter, multiple images of the precious items deposited by the user along with the vault box are taken by the image capturing device at step 290E. At step 290F the apparatus displays through the display unit, the image(s) and gross weight of the deposited precious items to inform the user of these details. Determination of gross weight include determination by the apparatus whether the piece of precious item falls within weight limit acceptable by the apparatus. These minimum and maximum weight limits are predefined. If the precious item deposited by the user is not within the minimum and maximum thresholds or predefined limits a rejection step is engaged and the precious item is returned to the user. If the deposited precious item falls within the minimum and maximum weight limits, the apparatus proceeds to accept the same and proceed with further actions to assay the precious item.

Referring now to Fig. 2B, it illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method of the assessment of the precious items by the apparatus in order to ascertain its value at step 300 of Fig. 2.

The robotic arm comes into action as described in Fig 1 and sends out a signal to the cloud network to search for a remote terminal available for assessment of the deposited precious item at step 300A. The cloud network optimizes the demand from multiple apparatus across different locations and supply of available remote terminals to operate the robotic arms in these apparatuses. Based on the availability, a connection is then successfully established by the cloud network between an available remote terminal at step 300B with the robotic arm of said apparatus. The established connection enables transmission of image feed being captured by the image capturing device configured within the apparatus to the remote terminal at step 300C. The image feed assists the operator to input appropriate instructions in the remote terminal to operate the robotic arm at step 300D from a remote location.

Thereafter, the precious item deposited in the vault box by the user is picked by the robotic arm one at a time at step 300E and placed on a weighing scale to record the weighing value of each of the items at step 300F. The gross weight of each precious item is recorded one by one at step 300G. At step 300H, the image capturing device takes a set of images of the precious item one by one being weighed by weighing scale at step 300F. This set of images includes the images of metal parts, gemstones and the prongs of the precious item. In case if any gemstone(s) is/are missing or fallen or not present in the precious item, the images of empty prongs are also captured by the image capturing device. If the user has deposited the gemstones separately to the jewellery which are meant for fitting on the deposited precious item, the images of gemstones are also captured for comparison with the precious item. The images are captured at high resolution to enable magnification for easy viewing and comparison. The image capturing device also captures the image of inclusions in the gemstone of the precious item. Examples of inclusions which may, not being limited to, be captured include one or more of solid, liquid or gas inclusions, internal fissures, fractures, zones of crystal growth, stress cracks, bubbles, cleavage fault, feather, halo inclusions, two- phase and three-phase inclusions, etc.

The image capturing device is configured to further capture identification markings or inscriptions on the surface of the metal part or the gemstone of the precious item. Any nicks, scratches, dents, placements, table facets, bottom facets of gemstone, color change under lighting conditions, girdle facets and thickness are also captured through image and deductions for stones, damages etc., in the precious items calculated accordingly at step 3001. Thereafter, each of the precious item is rubbed gently by the robotic arm against a touchstone to ensure and ascertain that the metal part of the precious item is genuine in nature at step 300J. The rubbing force is controlled by a force feedback mechanism based on the current consumed by the motor. The images are also captured simultaneously of the precious items on the weight scale at step 300H in order to ensure that the weight can be established throughout the assaying process, that is, at a gross level initially and later at a net level post necessary deductions and adjustments. Subsequently, the net weight of each of the deposited precious item is calculated and determined by the apparatus at step 300K.

Based on the images captured in the above-mentioned steps, the value of the precious metals and the gemstones are calculated based on the ongoing rates of the respective metal and gemstones based on the regulatory bodies for the same in the country of installation of the apparatus. The net weight of the precious item is thereafter displayed on the user interface i.e. at the display unit at step 310 together with the monetary value of the precious item providing the user options to accept or reject an offer price based thereon.

Moving further at step 320 in Fig 2, the user is prompted to choose between acceptance or rejection of the offer through said display unit. The user is prompted to decide whether to take the offer or not based on the net weight of the precious items and the current amount based thereon of the precious items in respective countries at step 320. If the user is not satisfied with the amount offered by the bank or financial institution(s), the user rejects the offer and terminates the transaction at step 330. Once the transaction gets terminated, a lid is placed on the vault box to cover and seal the vault box at step 340. The sealed vault box is then moved near the deposit shutter and the user is prompted to collect the sealed vault box with the precious items stored therein from the deposit shutter at step 350.

If the user accepts the offer at step 320, the user is prompted to enter his/her bank account details through the user interface at step 360. Moving to the next step, the penny testing takes place at step 370. The bank is the primary source who initiates the offer on precious items to the user. Post penny testing, the vault box with deposited precious items being stored therein is covered with a lid and stored in the storage array at step 380 towards the rear end of the apparatus.

Referring now to Fig. 2C, it illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method of the storage of the precious items by the apparatus post acceptance of the offer by the user at step 320 of Fig. 2.

In case of an acceptance of said offer by the user, a lid is placed onto the vault box at step 380A. The lid is latched with the help of the gantry system by applying a gentle force. The lid contains electronic components to enable live location tracking of the vault box via technologies, not being limited to, like GPS. The vault box is also fitted, not being limited to, with QR Code, NFC or RFID tag (or similar technologies), the details of the unique tag is linked to the details of the user and his/her precious items captured until this moment is recorded in step 380B in a remote database. Thereafter, the end effectors of the gantry system is configured to get attached to the metal tabs on the lid of the vault box to move the vault box around within the apparatus. The gantry system uses its three axis XYZ gantry and multiple motors to move in a synchronized manner for storage within the apparatus. An empty storage slot in the storage array is identified and the vault box is moved to that coordinates by the gantry system in step 380C for a secured storage. The storage array has a capacity of holding a limited number of vault boxes, which can contain both empty and occupied vault boxes. The boxes are stored in a stacking method. Multiple guides are provided in the storage array to guide and hold the boxes. The storage array coordinate details having the stored vault box and other user details captured during the process are transmitted to a cloud network database at step 380D.

Thereafter, at step 390 as shown in Fig. 2, the offered accepted amount by the user is disbursed in the bank account of the user and an acknowledgement receipt confirming the disbursal of the transaction is printed through the printer at step 400. When the storage array reaches a predefined ratio of occupied to total boxes, an operator replaces occupied vault boxes with empty vault boxes via the rear door provided in the apparatus in order to ensure that new users can keep using the apparatus without any issues. The occupied vault boxes removed from the storage array of the apparatus are moved to a central vault for safe keeping at step 410, until required for retrieval or other purposes by the operator/user.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it illustrates a flowchart showing steps of an exemplary method of the retrieval of the precious items deposited by a user and contained in a vault box by the apparatus at step 500.

User raises a request to collect the precious items he / she had previously deposited in the apparatus. Such a request can be made by the user via multiple methods including through a software application showing the status of the related financial transaction in step 510. On raising the request, the user is prompted to make any pending payments due from the user’s end to close the financial transaction in step 520. Only after making the pending payments, if any, and a confirmation thereof, the user be able to schedule an appointment in step 530 to visit a select apparatus and collect the user’s deposited precious items. Once a successful appointment has been scheduled, the operator gets an intimation to move the vault box linked to this particular user to be moved from the central vault to the apparatus selected by the user before the scheduled date and time of visit of the user at step 540.

On the date and time of the scheduled appointment, the user reaches at the selected apparatus and prompted to enter the unique User / Customer ID in the apparatus via the various input methods and means, allocated to the user during the initial phase of depositing the precious items in the apparatus at step 550. Thereafter, the linked data to the particular user is retrieved from the central database and loaded onto the apparatus at step 560. The user is prompted to enter the KYC details for identification verification purposes at step 570. As explained earlier, the KYC details can be in the form of Aadhar Card details, mobile number verification, PAN Card verification, biometric verification or any other similar verification which had been used to authenticate the user’s identity during the deposit process of the precious items of the user in the initial stage as described in Fig 2. Verification at this stage is necessary to make sure that the precious metal items are being retrieved by the same user who had deposited the precious items and to ensure that any possible situation of theft and fraud be avoided. On successful KYC verification, the user is prompted to wait while the apparatus retrieves the vault box containing the user’s precious metal items at step 580. The apparatus identifies the location coordinates of the vault box linked to the user which has been securely stored in the storage array of the apparatus by the operator who moved it from the central vault to this select apparatus at step 590. Gantry system picks and moves the vault box from the storage array to the front of the apparatus wherein the vault box is made accessible to the user through the deposit shutter at step 600. On detecting the vault box in the vicinity and successful movement by the gantry system, the deposit shutter is prompted to open at step 610. User is prompted to collect the vault box containing his/her deposited precious items at step 620 via the display unit. Thereafter, the user is promoted to collect the vault box from the deposit shutter area and confirm the successful collection of the box by agreeing to terms of declaration visible to the user on the display unit at step 630. Agreeing to terms of declaration marks the end of the financial transaction with the user and removes claim of user with respect to the deposited precious item. Thereafter, the deposit shutter is prompted to close at step 640 and a closure receipt is generated for the user at step 650 from the printer containing the summary of the financial transaction conducted.

Referring to FIG. 4, it illustrates a schematic diagram of a Gold Teller System 600 comprising a plurality of kiosk apparatuses 601 which is the plural of the kiosk apparatus 100 described in Fig. 1 spread geographically across different locations and a plurality of remote terminals 602 which is the plural of the remote terminal 112 described in Fig. 1 located at select locations and being in connection with said kiosk apparatuses 601. The multiple kiosk apparatuses 601 and multiple remote terminals 602 are connected to each other by a Kiosk Connection Control System 603 comprising a module stored in a cloud network. The Kiosk Connection Control System 603 is configured to ensure optimized allocation of the kiosk apparatuses 601 amongst the remote terminals 602 and ensures a secure connection to transmit signals and conduct intended operations as described in Fig. 2 and afore-mentioned paragraphs. Gold Teller System 600 is also provided with a data warehouse 604 to store data and/or information relating to the Gold Teller System 600, which is connected to all other components of the system 600, i.e. said kiosk apparatuses 601, said remote terminals 602 and the Kiosk Connection Control System 603. The connection between all the components of the Gold Teller System 600 is configured to be established over the internet. Referring now to Fig. 4, an exemplary method of operation of the Gold Teller System 600 comprising a plurality of kiosk apparatuses 601 being in connection with a plurality of remote terminals 602, the connection being optimized and secured by the Kiosk Connection Control System 603 with continuous data exchange with data warehouse 604 is provided hereafter.

When a user awakens a kiosk apparatus 100 as shown in Fig. 1 and reaches the stage where he / she has successfully deposited the precious items in the vault box 107 through the deposit shutter 290 as shown in Fig. 2, the apparatus is configured to send a signal to the Kiosk Connection Control System 603 to search and allocate a remote terminal to this particular apparatus to operate the robotic arm and conduct the precious item assaying in step 610. Kiosk Connection Control System 603, to find an available remote terminal from multiple remote terminals 602, sends a signal to all the connected remote terminals in the Gold Teller System 600 and identifies the most optimum remote terminal to be connected to the select apparatus from multiple kiosk apparatuses 601 based on a module in the Kiosk Connection Control System (603) in step 620. With the remote terminal and apparatus identified to be connected to each other, Kiosk Connection Control System 603 establishes a secure connection between them ensuring a safe transaction can take place eliminating any kind of external interference or intrusion in the connection at step 630. During the transaction represented in Figs. 2 & 3, user/customer data and other details of the transaction and operation is written and retrieved continuously to and from the data warehouse 604. At the end of a transaction represented in Fig. 2, the Kiosk Connection Control System 603 terminates the connection between the identified remote terminal and apparatus, making the remote terminal available for the next apparatus requiring the connection. The above is a continuous repeated process within the Gold Teller System 600 of connecting, disconnecting and reconnecting between various pairs of the kiosk apparatuses 601 and remote terminals 602 via optimization from the Kiosk Connection Control System 603 with continuous data exchange to and from the data warehouse 604.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure or elements or components thereof. For example, reference to a “card” or “bank card” includes a credit card, debit card or any other financial card issued by a bank or financial institution. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" "comprising," "includes" and/or "including" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this present disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. The present invention can be implemented in a setup having hardware and/or software or in a combination of hardware and software, and such implementations would be known to one of ordinary skilled in the art. The method, system and/or the apparatus according to the inventive principles as disclosed in connection with preferred embodiments, may be produced in a single computer system having separate elements or means for performing the individual functions or steps described or claimed or one or more elements or means combining the performance of one or more or any of the functions and/or actions and/or steps disclosed or claimed herein, or may be arranged in a distributed computer system, inter-connected and/or intra-connected by any suitable means as a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) over a telecommunication system (for example, internet) and/or network as would be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Without limiting the principles of the disclosed invention any such computing system can include, inter alia, at least a computer readable medium and/or database allowing a computer to read data, instructions, messages or message packets, and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium and/or database as would be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Although this invention has been disclosed in the context of certain preferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses of the invention and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, from the foregoing description, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skills in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the foregoing description be limited to the exact description set forth above, but rather that such description be construed as encompassing such features that reside in the present invention, including all the features and embodiments that would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the relevant art. The claims appended hereafter are meant to cover changes and modifications within the scope and sprit of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An apparatus (100) for automated verification of a user identity, automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked uniquely to said user, all configured for use within a kiosk, the apparatus (100) comprising: at least one image capturing device (101) for capturing image(s) of objects outside the apparatus (100); one or more input and output means and/or interface and/or user interface module; at least one deposit shutter (106) for depositing the precious item into said apparatus for its assay; at least one another image capturing device (109) for capturing image(s) of objects inside said apparatus; at least one robotic arm (108) configured to pick, drop and move the precious items at various location coordinates across one or more assaying process steps within said apparatus; and at least one vault box (107) wherein the precious item is securely stored inside said apparatus having geo tracking features with track details like content attributes and geo location of said vault box (107).

2. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage array (111) in the rear end of said apparatus (100) for a secured storage of said vault box (107).

3. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , further comprising a gantry system (110) configured to pick, drop and move said vault box (107) within said apparatus (100).

4. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the operation of the robotic arm (108) controlled by a remote terminal (112) connected to said apparatus (100) having one or more operator(s).

5. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein input means and/or interface and/or user interface module comprising at least one display unit (102) enabling input of the details with respect to the identification of the user and/or other inputs to said apparatus (100), at least one speaker (103) providing audio information to assist in assessment of said precious item, at least one fingerprint scanner (104) enabling said apparatus (100) to verify said user’s credentials and at least one printer (105) to generate a confirmation receipt for user’s record.

6. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , further comprising a rear door (113) to replace the vault boxes (107) in the storage array (111) of said apparatus (100).

7. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device (101 ) capable of capturing image(s) of the user and information/documents presented by the user.

8. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device (109) capable of capturing image(s) of the precious item including the appearance, shape, size measurements (length, width and depth) and color and identification markings or inscriptions on the surface of the metal part or the gemstone of the precious items.

9. The apparatus (100) according to claim 8, wherein the captured images includes the form of still images, video images or laser based topography models of the precious items.

10. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device (101 and 109) comprising an analog or digital still image camera, a video camera, an optical camera, a laser camera, a laser or 3D image scanner, a facial recognition camera and/or any other device capable of capturing high resolution images of the precious metal item.

11 . The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein said robotic arm (108) is a six degree of freedom robotic arm connected to the remote terminal (112) via a Robot Operating System controlled via motion control commands input from a multi-channel input device on a different system and the commands are transmitted via internet to pick, drop and move the precious items or other items deposited by the user within the kiosk apparatus (100) and is equipped with an image recognition system to interpret the images captured by the image capturing device (109).

12. The apparatus (100) according to claim 3, wherein the gantry system (110) comprises one or more motors and/or controllers which enable the movement of vault boxes (107) in X, Y and Z axis / planes inside the apparatus (100) with the help of linear actuators.

13. The apparatus (100) according to claim 2, wherein the storage array (111) demarcated by guides / notches for box placement and with enough spacing to enable

QR Code, NFC or RFID reading, wherein user details and other information like content and attributes of the content is linked with in a database for fast and secured storage and retrieval purposes.

14. The apparatus (100) according to claim 4, wherein said operator(s) interpret the images captured by the image capturing devices of the robotic arm (108) and feed instructions to control the robotic arm (108) for the pick, drop and movement of the precious items within the apparatus structure.

15. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , wherein said apparatus (100) configured to provide an assay for the precious items based on image-based stone weight deduction calculation, scan-based deduction calculation, handling of precious metal items using force sensitive feedback loop, robotic abrasive appraisal and optical system based purity calculation.

16. The apparatus (100) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 14, having a mechanism to pack and store the precious items in said vault box (107) within the storage array (111) inside the apparatus structure, wherein each vault box (107) being uniquely identifiable with the user details.

17. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1 , having a housing for the apparatus (100) with a secured construction and design to be secure and difficult to break into and/or tampered with.

18. A method for automated verification of a user identity, automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items linked uniquely to said user by an apparatus, the method comprising the steps of: commencing deposit process of precious item into said apparatus prompting the user to awaken the display unit of the apparatus by tapping the touch screen interface thereon; prompting the user to authenticate his/her identity via the KYC (Know Your Customer) process comprising the validation of phone number, biometric based identity validation among other validations relating to the user; cross verifying the information provided/captured relating to the user to establish genuinity of the identify of the user; opening a deposit shutter and prompting the user to place precious items in a vault box having no upper lid after completion of the user inputs of all the required information for KYC and a successful validation thereof; closed shut automatically the deposit shutter when the user confirms the deposit via a prompt confirming the same on a display unit; commencing the automated process of assessment of the precious items deposited by the user for determination of its value by recording at first the gross weight of all the precious items; taking multiple images of the precious items deposited by an image capturing device; and displaying the image(s) and gross weight of the deposited precious items through the display unit to inform the user of such details.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: searching for a remote terminal available for assessment of the deposited precious item by a robotic arm by sending out a signal to a cloud network; establishing a successful connection based on availability by the cloud network between an available remote terminal with the robotic arm of said apparatus; transmitting image feed being captured by the image capturing device configured within the apparatus to the remote terminal; operating the robotic arm from the linked remote location through one or more operator(s); picking and moving the precious items one at a time from the vault box with the robotic arm and placing on a weighing scale to record the weighing value of each of the items; recording gross weight of each precious item one by one by a weighing scale; capturing image(s) of the precious item one by one being weighed by the weighing scale by the image capturing device; calculating deductions for stones, damages etc. in the precious item; rubbing gently each of the deposited precious item by the robotic arm against a touchstone to ensure and ascertain that the metal part of the precious item is genuine in nature; calculating a net weight of each of the deposited precious item; and displaying the net weight of the precious item on the user interface together with the monetary value of the precious item to the user.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step of displaying the net weight of the precious item comprising providing the user options to accept or reject an offer price based thereon.

21 . The method according to claim 20, wherein the user rejects the offer, the step of rejection comprising: terminating the transaction and placing a lid on the vault box to cover and seal the vault box; moving the sealed vault box near the deposit shutter; and prompting the user to collect the sealed vault box with the precious items stored therein from the deposit shutter.

22. The method according to any of the preceding claims 18-20, wherein the automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: prompting the user to enter his/her bank account details upon acceptance of the offer by the user; conducting a penny testing; covering the vault box with deposited precious items stored therein post successful penny testing with a lid; moving and storing the covered/sealed vault box in a storage array; disbursing the offered amount accepted by the user in the bank account of the user; and printing an acknowledgement receipt confirming the disbursal of the transaction through a printer.

23. The method according to any of the preceding claims 18-20 and 22, wherein the automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: placing a lid onto the vault box and latching the lid with the help of a gantry system by applying a gentle force; linking information of the user with the unique code of the vault box having the precious items deposited of the user stored therein; identifying an empty storage slot in the storage array; moving the vault box to the identified storage slot by the gantry system for a secured storage; and transmitting the storage array coordinate details having the stored vault box and other user details captured during the process to a cloud network database.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious items by the apparatus comprising: removing the occupied vault boxes from the storage array of the apparatus and moved to a central vault for safe keeping until required for retrieval or other purposes by the operator/user.

25. The method according to any of the preceding claims 18-20 and 22-24, wherein the automated authentication and secure storage and retrieval of precious by the apparatus items comprising: receiving a request from the user to collect the precious item deposited by the user in the apparatus; prompting the user to make any pending payments due from the user; scheduling an appointment for the user to visit a select apparatus upon confirmation of the pending payment and/or payment to collect the user’s deposited precious items; moving the vault box linked with the user upon a successful appointment from the central vault to the apparatus selected by the user before the scheduled date and time of visit of the user; prompting the user to enter the unique user/customer ID in the apparatus via various input methods and means on the date and time of the scheduled appointment; retrieving and loading the data linked to the user from the central database on the apparatus; prompting the user to enter the KYC details for identification verification purpose; prompting the user to wait upon successful KYC verification while the apparatus retrieves the vault box containing the user’s precious metal items; identifying the location coordinates of the vault box linked to the user being securely stored in the storage array of the apparatus; moving the identified vault box by gantry system from the storage array to the front of the apparatus wherein the vault box made accessible to the user through the deposit shutter; opening the deposit shutter and prompting the user to collect the vault box through the display unit from the deposit shutter area; prompting the user confirm the successful collection of the box by agreeing to terms of declaration visible to the user on the display unit; closing the deposit shutter upon the user agreeing to the terms of declaration; and generating a closure receipt from the printer containing the summary of the conducted transaction.

26. A Gold Teller System (600) comprising: a plurality of kiosk apparatuses (601 ) spread geographically across different locations; a plurality of remote terminals (602) located at select locations and being in connection with said kiosk apparatuses (601 ); a Kiosk Connection Control System (603) comprising a module stored in a cloud network enabling connection between said kiosk apparatuses (601 ) and said remote terminals (602); and a data warehouse (604) to store data and/or information relating to the Gold Teller System (600) being connected to all other components of the system (600), i.e. said kiosk apparatuses (601), said remote terminals (602) and the Kiosk Connection Control System (603).

27. The Gold Teller System (600) according to claim 26, wherein the Kiosk Connection Control System (603) configured to ensure optimized allocation of the kiosk apparatuses (601) amongst the remote terminals (602) and ensures a secure connection to transmit signals and conduct intended operations.

28. The Gold Teller System (600) according to claim 26, wherein the connection between all the components of the Gold Teller System (600) i.e. said kiosk apparatuses (601), said remote terminals (602) and the Kiosk Connection Control System (603) configured to be established over the internet.

29. A method of operation of the Gold Teller System (600) comprising a plurality of kiosk apparatuses (601) being in connection with a plurality of remote terminals (602), the connection being optimized and secured by the Kiosk Connection Control System (603) with continuous data exchange with data warehouse (604), the method comprising: receiving a signal to the Kiosk Connection Control System to search and allocate a remote terminal to a kiosk apparatus having a vault box with precious items deposited by a user to operate the robotic arm of said apparatus and conduct the precious item assaying; sending a signal to all the connected remote terminals in the Gold Teller System and identifying the most optimum remote terminal to be connected to the select apparatus from multiple kiosk apparatuses based on a module in the Kiosk Connection Control System to find an available remote terminal from multiple remote terminals; establishing a secure connection between the available and identified remote terminal and apparatus ensuring a safe transaction eliminating any kind of external interference or intrusion in the connection through Kiosk Connection Control System; retrieving and writing user/customer data and other details of the transaction and operation continuously to and from the data warehouse; and terminating the connection between the identified remote terminal and apparatus, making the remote terminal available for the next apparatus requiring the connection upon the end of a transaction.