The present invention includes methods and apparatus for the automated provision of goods through the use of scanning systems. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for automatically conveying which goods are being ordered, where the goods will be picked up, an associated method of payment, kitchen fulfillment, item tracking, and automatic delivery by a dispenser apparatus. In preferred embodiments, the present invention is applied to the automated ordering and pick-up of food items at a fast food restaurant and delivery to a food dispenser at a customer location.

A method for detecting filling parameters of a point-of-sale display, the point-of-sale display being intended to receive predetermined products, said method comprises: emitting a wave in the point-of-sale display; sensing an echo wave generated by reflection and/or backscattering of the emitted wave in the point-of-sale display; transmitting a signal representative of said echo wave to a calculating unit comprising at least one predictive model configured to determine how much the point-of-sale display is filled with products and/or configured to determine a probability that products placed in the point-of-sale display correspond to said predetermined products,
the method further comprising: calculating an inference of the at least one predictive model to determine filling parameters of the point-of-sale display.

An automatic vending method and apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, relating to the field of automatic vending machines. The method includes: obtaining an image from a photographed video stream of commodities in an automatic vending machine; positioning an image of a commodity picked up by a user from the image; obtaining a change value of load weight of a shelf where the commodity is picked up by the user; determining a possible combination of commodities corresponding to the change value of load weight according to a weight of each commodity in the automatic vending machine; recognizing information of the commodity corresponding to the image of the commodity picked up by the user according to a pre-established commodity feature library and in conjunction with the possible combination of commodities; and performing settlement automatically for the user according to the recognized information of the commodity.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for determining electric pulses to provide to an unattended machine based on remotely-configured options. An example method includes: detecting presence of the unattended machine in proximity to the mobile device. After detecting the presence, the method includes: receiving, from a server, information about a first set of remotely-configured options. In response to receiving the information about the first set of remotely-configured options, the method includes: displaying user interface objects that allow for selection of respective options in the first set of remotely-configured options. After detecting a selection of a first user interface object, receiving, from the server, specifications regarding electric pulses to be provided to the unattended machine by a pulse-providing device. After sending an authorization grant and the specifications to the pulse-providing device, the method includes: receiving an indication that the electric pulses were provided to the unattended machine according to the specifications.

A product transfer enclosure comprising: a back door assembly; a front door assembly; an electronics module comprising a communication chip for enabling data communication over a network; and a display screen, coupled to the front door, for displaying dynamic messages based on the data communication.

In an example embodiment, a card reader in dispenser (CRIND) is provided including a processor and a memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer programming code configured to, with the processor, cause the CRIND to receive one or more transaction messages from a forecourt controller or a peripheral device associated with a fuel dispenser, compare the one or more transaction messages to one or more message sequences associated with transaction phases of a fuel dispenser, determine a transaction phase of the fuel dispenser based on the comparison of the one or more transaction messages with the one or more message sequences, and cause feature processing circuitry to provide selected alternative media content to a user interface of the fuel dispenser based on the determined transaction phase.

A display device includes a transparent light guide plate having an incident surface to display a plurality of patterns viewable in different directions and at least one light source facing a part of the incident surface. The light guide plate includes, on a first surface of the light guide plate, a plurality of prisms arranged along each of the plurality of patterns. The plurality of prisms have, for each pattern, reflection surfaces that reflect light emitted from the at least one light source and entering the light guide plate through the incident surface in a direction in which the pattern is viewable.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes a cloud based management system controlling a plurality of automated food production systems residing at different locations. A machine learning algorithm may be used to modify recipe data to customize recipes.

A mobile device presents representations of payment accepting unit events on a display, by identifying a payment accepting unit that is available to accept payment from a mobile payment application executing on the mobile device, displaying a visual indication of the payment accepting unit and accepting user input to receive selection of the payment accepting unit and trigger payment, establishing a wireless communication path including the mobile device and the payment accepting unit, enabling user interaction with the user interface to complete the transaction, exchanging information with the available payment accepting unit via the one or more radio transceivers in conjunction with the transaction, and displaying an updated user interface of the mobile payment application.

A contactless order dispensing system is provided for dispensing e-commerce orders to customers at a store without a person-to-person interaction. The dispensing system includes a customer access portal for presenting orders to the customer, preferably at an exterior location. A transportation system (e.g. conveyer system) transports orders from a storage buffer system to the customer access portal. The storage buffer holds customer orders until the customer arrives to retrieve them and may store portions of orders at different temperatures. The dispensing system includes a confirmation sensor system to verify whether a customer has retrieved their entire order or whether the customer has rejected one or more of the order items. The dispensing system provides the order to the customer within about two minutes of the customer indicating that they are at the access portal and ready for their order.