Collaborative unmanned aerial vehicle for an inventory system

• US 10,000,284 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2015
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Purwin, Oliver Christoph, Stubbs, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Jessica B
• Application Number:
  US14/752,746
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/26 housed in ducts
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/40 Balloons B64B1/58 takes precedence; toy balloons A63H27/10
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/30 Lighter-than-air aircraft, e.g. aerostatic aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/202 using tethers for connecting to ground station
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/14 ducted or shrouded
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/30 for capturing UAVs in flight by ground or sea-based arresting gear, e.g. by a cable or a net
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00

Abstract

The disclosed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a buoyant airbag, a drive unit, a retention feature, and an onboard control module that can be configured to cause the drive unit to displace the UAV, cause the retention feature to retain one or more items for transport, and receive instructions to transfer items from one location to another. For example, a UAV can be controlled to obtain an item at one location in a warehouse such as a first floor, lift said item to a second location in the warehouse such as a second floor, and deposit the item at the second location.

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

an outer shell defining an outer boundary of a lifting gas envelope arranged to enclose a volume of lighter-than-air gas;

the UAV further comprising a plurality of discrete and substantially vertical ducts, comprising at least four substantially vertical ducts, the ducts being arranged symmetrically across a plane passing through a vertical centerline of the UAV, and pass through the lifting gas envelope within the outer shell, and extend between a superior surface of the outer shell to an inferior surface of the outer shell, and fluidly connecting an exterior of the outer shell at the superior surface with the exterior of the outer shell at the inferior surface, wherein the ducts are not connected with each other and are spaced apart from a center of the UAV;

a plurality of fans correspondingly disposed within the plurality of ducts to control movement of the UAV;

a retention feature connected with the shell to selectively retain an item; and

a management component configured to control the UAV.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1, further comprising:

a substantially horizontal duct passing through the outer shell and fluidly connecting the exterior of the outer shell at an anterior surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle with the exterior of the outer shell at a posterior surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

a horizontally oriented fan for controlling movement, the horizontally oriented fan being disposed inside the horizontal duct.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 2, wherein the management component further comprises a computing device configured with executable instructions in order to, at least:

receive information relating to the item;

instruct the UAV to move to a first location above the item;

instruct the UAV to retain the item; and

instruct the UAV to move the item to a second location.

4. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

an outer shell defining an outer boundary of a lifting gas envelope within the outer shell configured to contain a volume of lighter than air gas;

a plurality of thrust units connected with the outer shell;

a retention element connected with the outer shell, the retention element configured to selectively retain an item; and

a management component configured to control the unmanned aerial vehicle;

wherein

the outer shell further comprises a plurality of discrete, substantially vertical ducts passing through the lifting gas envelope within the shell of the UAV from a superior surface of the shell to an inferior surface of the shell, the substantially vertical ducts being disconnected from each other and spaced apart from a center of the UAV;

the plurality of thrust units comprises at least one set of four thrust units within corresponding ducts of the plurality of substantially vertical ducts; and

each duct of the plurality of ducts contains a thrust unit of the plurality of thrust units.

5. The UAV of claim 4, wherein the lifting gas envelope comprises a gas-impermeable membrane affixed within the outer shell to accommodate the volume of the lighter-than-air gas.

6. The UAV of claim 4, further comprising a ballast element connected with the outer shell and configured to take in air for displacing a portion of the volume of the lighter-than-air gas.

7. The UAV of claim 4, further comprising a ballast element connected with the outer shell and configured to take a heavier-than-air fluid.

8. The UAV of claim 4, wherein the shell further comprises a concave surface feature extending into the shell at an exterior of the UAV, and wherein at least part of the retention element is arranged within the concave surface feature.

9. The UAV of claim 4, further comprising:

a substantially horizontal duct passing through a portion of the outer shell and offset from a horizontal centerline of the outer shell; and

a horizontally oriented drive element for controlling spin, the horizontally oriented drive element being located within the substantially horizontal duct.

10. The UAV of claim 4, further comprising:

a sensor configured to detect attributes of an environment; and

wherein the management component is configured to control the UAV in order to;

determine a path for navigating between a first location and a second location based in part on the attributes of the environment.

11. The UAV of claim 4, further comprising:

a sensor configured to detect an attribute of the item; and

wherein the management component is configured to control the UAV in order to;

cause the retention element to retain the item based on the attribute.

19. The UAV of claim 4, wherein the plurality of thrust units are arranged in a quadcopter arrangement.

20. The UAV of claim 4, wherein each thrust unit of the plurality of thrust units can be independently controlled to provide horizontal displacement of the UAV by tilting the UAV.

12. A system comprising:

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising;

an outer shell defining an outer boundary of a lifting gas envelope within the outer shell configured to accommodate a volume of lighter-than-air gas;

at least four discrete and substantially vertical ducts connected with the outer shell that penetrate through the lifting gas envelope from a superior surface of the shell to an inferior surface of the shell the substantially vertical ducts being disconnected from each other and spaced apart from a center of the UAV;

at least four thrust elements, each positioned in a respective one of the at least four substantially vertical ducts;

a retention element, the retention element configured to selectively retain an item; and

a management component configured to control the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

a docking station comprising;

a platform configured to interface with the unmanned aerial vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the UAV further comprises a ballast element for retaining ballast;

and wherein the docking station further comprises a ballast transfer feature for transferring ballast between the ballast element of the UAV and the docking station.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the UAV further comprises a power supply;

and wherein the docking station comprises a recharging feature for recharging the power supply.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the docking station further comprises a sensor configured to sense information concerning a property of the item and to communicate the information to the management component.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the UAV further comprises:

a sensor configured to sense information concerning one or more of a height, speed, or acceleration of the UAV; and

wherein the management component is further configured to cause the UAV to;

adjust an output of at least one of the thrust elements in order to change one or more of the height, speed, or acceleration.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the management component is further configured to control the UAV to, in response to receiving instructions including information concerning a location of the item, cause the UAV to navigate from a current location to the location of the item.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the management component is further configured to control the UAV to:

receive information about the item including at least an origin and a destination of the item; and

cause the UAV to navigate to the item, retain the item, and transport the item to the destination.