Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Francois M Rouaix

Jonathan J Shakes

Donald Lloyd Kaufman

Christian James Colando

Felix F Antony

Palmer H Batt

Jeffrey P Bezos

Aravind Yalamanchi

March Rogers

Clea H Allington

Itai Almog

Ron Mondri

Cynthia L Elliott

Eduardo Sonnino

Eric Yanowitz

Dylan A Leatham

A whiteboard template can include multiple regions that are associated with different data sources. Each region can be associated with a different data source and can present objects based upon logical representations stored in an associated data source. Logical representations of objects in a region can include links to other objects in other regions associated with other data sources. When an object is moved between regions, transformations can be applied to the logical representation associated with the object. If the object is linked to other objects, the transformation can be propagated to the logical representations of the linked objects. In this manner, a single movement of an object between regions in a template can result in the updating of multiple objects and associated data sources, the updating of the visual properties of objects in multiple regions, and updating the visual properties of the regions themselves.

Dynamic data relationships in whiteboard regions

Dynamic templates include regions that provide behavior based upon a purpose or desired outcome. Templates and regions can modify the logical representations associated with objects to create semantic context for the objects. Templates and regions can also generate visual representations of objects based upon their logical representations. The visual representation utilized by a template or region can be selected manually or based upon the capabilities of a computing device. Objects contained within regions can be sorted, filtered, arranged, and projected based on their associated logical representations. Templates and regions can modify their size based upon the objects contained therein, can receive logical representations of objects from data sources and update the data sources to reflect modification of the logical representations, can initiate actions based on changes to the logical representations associated with objects, and generate structured summaries or other types of content based upon the logical representations.

Dynamic whiteboard regions

Dynamic whiteboard templates

Technologies are disclosed for grouping strokes of digital ink. The disclosed technologies receive a new stroke of digital ink and, responsive thereto, identify groups of strokes that are candidates for receiving the new stroke. Heuristics are computed for one of the candidate groups and for the new stroke. A confidence value is computed for the new stroke based upon the heuristics for the new stroke and the candidate group. If the confidence value exceeds a confidence threshold, which can be user-adjustable, the new stroke of digital ink is added to the candidate group. This process can then be repeated for other candidate groups until a group is found for the new stroke. If no group is found, a new group can be created for the new stroke. A machine learning model can also generate weights for use in computing confidence values.

Grouping strokes of digital ink

One or more images of items for an order being processed at processing station of an order fulfillment center may be captured and associated with the order. Alternatively, a short video clip may be captured of the order being packaged. An electronic notification that the order has been processed may be sent to a customer associated with the order. The electronic notification may include a reference to one or more of the captured images or video clips. The customer may use a reference included in the notification to view the captured images. The customer may view captured images to verify that the order has been correctly processed. The captured images may include images of the items being packaged for shipment and may show the shipping address on the package allowing the customer to verify that indeed it is his package in the images.

System and method for visual verification of order processing

A visible-light based display system may be used to project visual guidance to picking and/or stowing agents in a materials handling facility dependent on their current location. The system may comprise a plurality of fixed-location display devices and/or mobile display devices coupled to a control system. The control system may send messages to particular ones of the display devices for projection of visual guidance usable to direct an agent to a particular inventory area in which an item is to be stowed or from which an item is to be picked, to identify a particular position within an inventory area, and/or to identify a particular item stored within an inventory area. The messages may include location, position, and/or descriptive information associated with an item to be stowed or picked. The projected visual guidance may include light or laser beams, text, graphics and/or images, and may be agent-specific, item-specific, and/or order-specific.

Light emission guidance

A metadata-driven merchant feed processing system is described herein. A merchant providing an online marketplace for the sale of items by a variety of sellers implements a feed processing mechanism driven by feed metadata. The feed metadata consists of declarative metadata statements that model the semantics for transforming seller-facing feed data describing the seller's items to customer-facing listings data to be loaded to an item catalog. The feed metadata captures differences between different versions of the item catalog by maintaining the semantics of the product categories and attributes of the item catalog as of a certain version. Similarly, semantics in the feed metadata modeling new product categories and/or attributes are utilized to support supplemental feeds from sellers to support new features and improvements in the item catalog. The metadata driven feed processing system also provides support for multiple types of seller-facing data entities and feed formats through metadata mapping.

Metadata-driven processing of supplemental data feeds

Metadata-driven merchant feed processing system

Method and apparatus for multi-destination pick using motes. In embodiments, each receptacle may be assigned to a destination and may have a sensor that detects when an item is placed in the receptacle to deactivate the indicator and/or to verify that the item was placed in the correct receptacle. The sensor may be coupled via a wired or wireless connection to a mote that may include a communication interface for communicating with a control system and with other motes in an ad-hoc network. In some embodiments, each mote may also include an indicator that may be activated by a control system to indicate to the agent that the receptacle is the destination receptacle for a picked item. The agent may then place the item in the indicated destination receptacle. In one embodiment, the mote on the destination receptacle may be activated when the picked item is scanned by the agent.

Method and apparatus for sensing correct item placement for multi-destination picking

A method and system for agent exchange-based materials handling. According to one embodiment, a method of agent exchange-based order fulfillment may include a number of agents moving along respective paths through an inventory storage area of a materials handling facility. While moving through the inventory storage area, a portion of the number of agents may respectively select one or more of a number of items stored within the inventory storage area, where each one of the selected items is specified in a corresponding customer order or materials request. The method may also include conveying the selected items to one or more corresponding processing areas of the materials handling facility in order to fulfill the corresponding customer orders. Further, at least some of the selected items may be exchanged one or more times among the agents in the course of being conveyed to corresponding processing areas.

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Francois M Rouaix