Customer service robot and related systems and methods

Abstract

A robot for providing customer service within a facility includes a locomotion platform, an upper sensor for detecting objects within an upper field of view of the robot, a lower sensor for detecting objects within a lower field of view of the robot, a display and a robot computer in communication with the locomotion platform, the upper sensor and the lower sensor. The robot computer is configured to detect the presence of a customer within the facility based on information received from at least one of the upper sensor and lower sensor, and the robot computer is further configured to access one or more databases storing information associated with products available to customers within the facility and to provide customer service to the customer based on the accessed information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 : A robot for providing services of inventory management and customer assistance within a facility, comprising:
 a locomotion platform;   multiple sensors for detecting objects each within a field of view of the robot;   a display; and   a robot computer in communication with the locomotion platform, the sensors, the computer having a processor and computer-readable memory, wherein the robot computer is configured to detect the presence of a customer within the facility based on information received from at least one of the sensors, and the robot computer is further configured to access at least one digital inventory database storing inventory information associated with products available to a customer within the facility and to provide customer service to the customer based on the accessed information, wherein the robot computer uses at least one of its sensors to determine an inventory of products within the facility.   
     
     
         2 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to receive commands from an operator at a remotely-located support station and to operate based on the received commands. 
     
     
         3 : The robot of  claim 2 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to provide customer service by facilitating a two-way communication between a customer interacting with the robot in the facility and an operator at a remotely-located support station. 
     
     
         4 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to access at least one database storing information relating to at least one of: promotional videos, product images, product descriptions; promotion priority information; promotion benefits; promotion history; brand relationships; and location of products within the facility. 
     
     
         5 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer determines the inventory of products within the facility, using at least one of the multiple sensors, using at least one of: visual recognition, label extraction using, and barcode detection. 
     
     
         6 : The robot of  claim 5 , wherein at least one of: visual recognition, label extraction using, OCR and barcode detection further comprises color thresholding and detection of product labels. 
     
     
         7 : The robot of  claim 1 , further comprising a robot location detector for detecting the robot's location, and wherein the robot computer is further configured to generate a map of the facility based on information received from said sensors and robot location detector. 
     
     
         8 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to locate a product in the facility when a customer presents the product to at least one of the sensors, based on a comparison of the information about the product detected by the sensor and product information stored in the at least one digital inventory database. 
     
     
         9 : The robot of  claim 1 , further comprising a microphone, wherein the robot computer is further configured to receive spoken information from a customer detected by the microphone and to process the spoken information using a speech engine, and to provide customer service based on the received spoken information. 
     
     
         10 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to guide a customer to products within the facility which the customer wishes to locate by causing the robot to navigate to those products, wherein the robot computer is further configured to display similar products which are within the facility if the product the customer wishes to locate is not available within the facility. 
     
     
         11 : The robot of  claim 1 , further characterized by one or more of the following features:
 wherein the robot is configured to assess reliability of its sensor data, including navigation and vision, and its interpretation of that data; and   wherein the robot is able to modify its behavior in order to maintain its own safety as well as the safety of those around it.   
     
     
         12 : A robotic system for providing services of inventory management and customer assistance within a facility, comprising:
 a robot having a locomotion platform, sensors for detecting objects within a field of view, a display, and a robot computer in communication with the locomotion platform, the sensors, the computer having a processor and computer-readable memory; and   a support station located remote to the robot, the support station having a support station camera, a support station display, and a support station computer in communication with the support station camera and support station display, the support station computer having a processor and computer-readable memory;   wherein the robot is configured to access at least one digital inventory database storing inventory information associated with products available to a customer within the facility, and to provide customer service by facilitating a two-way communication between a customer interacting with the robot in the facility and an operator at the remotely-located support station, wherein the robot computer uses at least one of the sensors to determine an inventory of products within the facility.   
     
     
         13 : The system of  claim 12 , wherein the robot computer is configured to receive commands from the operator at the support station and to operate the robot based on the received commands. 
     
     
         14 : A method of providing inventory service with a robot, the method comprising:
 providing a robot within a facility with at least one customer, wherein the robot has a locomotion platform, multiple sensors for detecting objects each within a field of view of the robot, a display, and a robot computer in communication with the locomotion platform, and the sensors;   detecting a presence of at least one customer within the facility based on information received from at least one of the sensors; and   providing customer service to the at least one customer, and accessing at least one digital inventory database storing inventory information associated with products available within the facility and determining an inventory of products within the facility using at least one sensor.   
     
     
         15 : The method of  claim 14 , further comprising accessing at least one database storing information associated with at least one product available to the customer within the facility, and determining the inventory of products within the facility using at least one sensor, using at least one of: visual recognition, label extraction using, and barcode detection. 
     
     
         16 : The method of  claim 15 , further comprising facilitating a two-way communication between the at least one customer and an operator at a remotely-located support station with the robot in the facility, wherein the at least one of: visual recognition, label extraction using, and barcode detection further comprises at least one of: color thresholding of product labels, contour detection of product labels, and label detection. 
     
     
         17 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the digital inventory database is integrated with a map of the facility, wherein location information of products within the facility is displayable on the map. 
     
     
         18 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to monitor a displayed price of a product within the facility with at least one sensor, wherein the monitored, displayed price of the product is correlated with a stored price of the product within the digital inventory to identify pricing inaccuracies. 
     
     
         19 : The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the robot computer is further configured to monitor a quantity of products within the facility with at least one sensor, wherein the monitored, quantity of the product is correlated with a stored quantity of the product within the digital inventory to assess product inventory levels. 
     
     
         20 : The robot of  claim 8 , wherein the robot is further configured to display to the customer a location of the product within the facility, wherein the location is identified on a map of the facility visible on the display.