Systems and methods of authenticating items

Abstract

In some embodiments, systems and methods provide distributed item authentication. In some embodiments systems comprise: a housing; a set of sensor systems; a transceiver; and an authentication control circuit configured to: obtain first sensor data of an item being authenticated, obtain an initial identification of the item; access an item authentication block specific to the item; obtain a first set of authentication instructions; control one or more sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authentication instructions; compare multiple current authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; confirm that each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and cause the item authentication block to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A distributed cryptographic item authentication system, comprising:
 a housing;   a set of sensor systems secured with the housing and wherein the set of sensor systems comprises at least an image capture system;   a transceiver configured to enable communication over a distributed computer network to access a cryptographic distributed ledger blockchain database source; and   an authentication control circuit coupled with non-transitory memory storing code that when implemented by the authentication control circuit causes the authentication control circuit to:   obtain first sensor data from at least a first item identifying sensor system of an item being authenticated, and obtain an initial identification of the item based on the first sensor data;   access, through the transceiver, the blockchain database source and acquire an item authentication block specific to the item;   obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to be applied by the authentication control circuit in authenticating the item, and a previously acquired collection of a set of multiple historic authentication sensor data specific to the item;   control one or more sensor systems of the set of sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authentication instructions to capture a collection of multiple different current authentication sensor data specific to the item;   compare the multiple current authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data;   confirm, in authenticating the item, that each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and   cause the item authentication block within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item.   
     
     
         2 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein authentication control circuit is further configured to distribute the multiple current authentication sensor data and cause the item authentication block within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include the multiple current authentication sensor data to be available in subsequent authentication of the item. 
     
     
         3 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions specifies a sequence in which to implement multiple sensor systems of the set of sensor systems, and wherein the authentication control circuit in controlling the one or more sensor systems is configured to activate, in accordance with the specified sequence, each of the multiple sensor systems as specified by the first set of authentication instructions in capturing at least some of the current authentication sensor data. 
     
     
         4 . The item authentication system of  claim 3 , wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured to distribute the current authentication sensor data to be incorporated into the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item for use in subsequent authentication of the item. 
     
     
         5 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions comprises instructions for how to achieve a first physical orientation between at least a second sensor system of the set of sensor systems and the physical position of the item, and wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to provide feedback to a user directing the user to make physical adjustments to achieve the first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item. 
     
     
         6 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a motor cooperated with the housing and communicatively coupled with the authentication control circuit;   wherein the first set of authentication instructions comprises motor instructions to control at least a first motor to alter a physical orientation of at least one of the item and at least a second sensor system of the set of sensor systems to achieve a first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item, and wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to control at least the first motor in accordance with the motor instructions to physically adjust at least one of the second sensor system and the item to achieve the first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item.   
     
     
         7 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication control circuit in obtaining the first set of authentication instructions is configured to identify the first set of authentication instructions from multiple different sets of instructions, wherein the different sets of instructions each corresponds to a different level of accuracy of authentication of the item and corresponds to capabilities of at least one of multiple different types of item authentication systems, and wherein the first set of authentication instructions corresponds to capabilities of the item authentication system. 
     
     
         8 . The item authentication system of  claim 7 , wherein an original set of historic authentication sensor data of the historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item is generated by an original source of the item. 
     
     
         9 . The item authentication system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cavity with the housing;   a door cooperated with the housing relative to the cavity and configured to prevent and enable access to the cavity; and   a lock system configured to lock the door to close the cavity and secure the item within the cavity.   
     
     
         10 . The item authentication system of  claim 9 , wherein the authentication control circuit is communicatively coupled with the lock system, and is further configured to:
 confirm an identification of a purchasing user physically present at a location of the item authentication system, receive confirmation of payment by the purchasing user for the item, activate the lock system to unlock the lock system in response to confirming the identification of the purchasing user and the payment by the purchasing user, and update the item authentication block with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership of the item to the purchasing user.   
     
     
         11 . A method of providing distributed cryptographic item authentication, comprising:
 obtaining, from at least a first item identifying sensor system of a set of sensor systems, first sensor data corresponding to an item being authenticated, and obtaining an initial identification of the item based on the first sensor data;   accessing, through a transceiver and over a distributed computer network, a cryptographic distributed ledger blockchain database source and acquiring an item authentication block specific to the item;   obtaining, from the item authentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item, and a previously acquired collection of a set of multiple historic authentication sensor data specific to the item;   controlling one or more sensor systems of the set of sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authentication instructions to capture a collection of multiple different current authentication sensor data specific to the item;   comparing the multiple current authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data;   confirming, in authenticating the item, that each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and   causing the item authentication block within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 distributing the multiple current authentication sensor data and causing the item authentication block within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include the multiple current authentication sensor data to be available in subsequent authentication of the item.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions specifies a sequence in which to implement multiple sensor systems of the set of sensor systems, and wherein the controlling the one or more sensor systems further comprises activating, in accordance with the specified sequence, each of the multiple sensor systems as specified by the first set of authentication instructions in capturing at least some of the current authentication sensor data. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 distributing the current authentication sensor data to be incorporated into the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item for use in subsequent authentication of the item.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions comprises instructions for how to achieve a first physical orientation between at least a second sensor system of the set of sensor systems and the physical position of the item, and further comprising providing feedback to a user and directing the user to make physical adjustments to achieve the first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions comprises motor instructions to control at least a first motor to alter a physical orientation of at least one of the item and at least a second sensor system of the set of sensor systems to achieve a first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item, and further comprising controlling at least a first motor in accordance with the motor instructions to physically adjust at least one of the second sensor system and the item to achieve the first physical orientation between at least the second sensor system and the item. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the obtaining the first set of authentication instructions comprises identifying the first set of authentication instructions from multiple different sets of instructions, wherein the different sets of instructions each corresponds to a different level of accuracy of authentication of the item and corresponds to capabilities of at least one of multiple different types of item authentication systems, and wherein the first set of authentication instructions corresponds to current capabilities of an item authentication system to apply the first set of authentication instructions. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein an original set of historic authentication sensor data of the historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item is generated by an original source of the item. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 detecting an item within a cavity of a housing of an authentication system;   detecting that a door, which is cooperated with the housing relative to the cavity and configured to prevent and enable access to the cavity, is closed; and   activating a lock system configured to lock the door to close the cavity and securing the item within the cavity.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 confirming an identification of a purchasing user physically present at a location of an item authentication system applying the first set of authentication instructions;   receiving confirmation of payment by the purchasing user for the item;   activating a lock system to unlock a lock system in response to confirming the identification of the purchasing user and the payment by the purchasing user; and   causing the item authentication block to be updated with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership of the item to the purchasing user.