A real-time buffer manager system that calculates optimal food buffer
levels, for both completed products and product components, based on
real-time counts of restaurant patrons throughout a restaurant's property
and the estimated time for them to arrive at a food ordering station. The
real-time buffer manager employs a computer vision system, running a
series of 2D image processing techniques that detect and track vehicles
and people in several camera views. Patron counts are fed from the
computer vision system into a queuing model that estimates when each
patron will arrive at an ordering station. Thus, instead of analyzing
historical sales data, the buffer manager according to the present
invention electronically performs direct measurement of probable future
demand, and electronically predicts, in real-time, what the future food
product demand will be in a predetermined time (e.g., 3-5 minutes)
immediately following the direct measurement of the demand.
