Automated fulfillment of unmanned aerial vehicles

• US 10,266,346 B1
• Filed: 10/05/2017
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kisser, Lauren Marie, Medina Romero, Armando
• Primary Examiner(s): Randazzo, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US15/725,783
• Time in Patent Office: 565 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0093 co-operating with conveyor means
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/32 for handling freight
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 20/80 Arrangement of on-board electronics, e.g. avionics systems or wiring
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 20/96 using air
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/64 for parcel delivery or retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/39 Battery swapping
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/90 Launching from or landing on platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 37/02 Flow-sheets for conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors

Abstract

A method and system for evaluating and loading vehicles (e.g., aerial vehicles and other vehicles) are described herein. The vehicles are moved by a conveyance device. It may be determined whether a vehicle passes at least one of a structural integrity test or a functionality test. The vehicle may be removed from the conveyance device, e.g., by a robotic manipulator, in the event the vehicle fails at least one of the structural integrity test or the functionality test.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a conveyance device configured to receive and transport a plurality of vehicles from a loading location of the conveyance device to an unloading location of the conveyance device, the conveyance device, when installed, defining a plurality of stations between the loading location and the unloading location; and

a management device in communication with the conveyance device, a structural scanner disposed at a first station, a diagnostic device disposed at a second station, and a power device disposed at a third station, the management device configured to at least;

instruct placement of a vehicle on the conveyance device at the loading location;

instruct movement of the conveyance device;

instruct the structural scanner disposed at the first station to structurally scan the vehicle while the vehicle is located at the first station;

instruct the diagnostic device disposed at the second station to functionally test the vehicle while the vehicle is located at the second station;

instruct the power device to power test the vehicle while the vehicle is located at the third station; and

instruct removal of the vehicle from the conveyance device at the unloading location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the vehicle is a first vehicle; and

the management device is further configured to at least instruct the structural scanner to structurally scan a second vehicle while the second vehicle is at the first station and while the first vehicle is located at one of the second station or the third station.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the management device is further configured to at least:

instruct removal of the vehicle from the conveyance device at the first station in the event first output from the structural scanner indicates a structural deficiency of the vehicle;

instruct removal of the vehicle from the conveyance device at the second station in the event second output from the diagnostic device indicates failure of at least one system of the vehicle; and

instruct removal of the vehicle from the conveyance device at the third station in the event third output from the power device indicates failure of a power system of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the system further comprises robotic manipulators disposed at each of the first station, the second station, and the third station; and

instructing removal of the vehicle from the conveyance device at each of the first station, the second station, and the third station comprises instructing the respective robotic manipulator of the first station, the second station, or the third station to remove the vehicle from the conveyance device.

5. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

while an aerial vehicle moves along a conveyance device, causing at least;

a structural scanner to scan at least a portion of the aerial vehicle;

a diagnostic device to test functionality of at least one system of the aerial vehicle; and

a power device to perform a power-related operation with respect to the aerial vehicle.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

instructing placement of the aerial vehicle on a loading structure configured to support a plurality of aerial vehicles in a vertical configuration; and

causing loading of a package into a compartment of the aerial vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

instructing placement of the aerial vehicle on the loading structure comprises causing placement of the aerial vehicle into a slot of a plurality of vertically oriented slots of the loading structure, the plurality of vertically oriented slots corresponding to a plurality of slot levels; and

causing loading of the package comprises causing loading of the package while the aerial vehicle is located in the slot.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the structural scanner, the diagnostic device, and the power device are each disposed on a different level of the plurality of slot levels.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising instructing placement of the aerial vehicle on the conveyance device that is configured to support a plurality of aerial vehicles in a horizontal configuration.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein:

instructing placement of the aerial vehicle on the conveyance device comprises instructing placement of the aerial vehicle onto a surface of the conveyance device; and

the method further comprises instructing removal of the aerial vehicle from the surface of the conveyance device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the power-related operation comprises at least one of:

a battery replacement operation comprising removal of a first battery from the aerial vehicle and placement of a second battery in the aerial vehicle;

or

a power test operation comprising testing of a power system of the aerial vehicle.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

causing loading of a package into a compartment of the aerial vehicle; and

causing transfer of a set of delivery instructions to the aerial vehicle to deliver the package to a customer.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the at least one system of the aerial vehicle comprises at least one of an avionics system, an obstacle detection and avoidance system, a communication system, a propulsion system, a power management system, or a package retention system.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein:

the method further comprises instructing placement of the aerial vehicle on the conveyance device that is configured to transport the aerial vehicle and other aerial vehicles between a plurality of stations; and

the structural scanner, the diagnostic device, and the power device are each disposed at a respective station of the plurality of stations.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising causing loading of a package into a compartment of the aerial vehicle by at least:

causing a package loading device to move the package to a first position below the aerial vehicle; and

causing a lift platform of the package loading device to lift the package from the first position to a second position within the compartment of the aerial vehicle.

16. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving information about placement of an aerial vehicle on a conveyance device;

determining whether the aerial vehicle passes at least one of a structural integrity test or a functionality test; and

instructing removal of the aerial vehicle from the conveyance device in the event the aerial vehicle fails at least one of the structural integrity test or the functionality test.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein:

determining whether the aerial vehicle passes the structural integrity test comprises at least;

scanning the aerial vehicle using a structural scanner to generate scanning information; and

identifying structural deficiencies of the aerial vehicle based at least in part on the scanning information; and

determining whether the aerial vehicle passes the functionality test comprises at least;

operating at least one system of the aerial vehicle to generate diagnostic information; and

identifying diagnostic faults of the at least one system based at least in part on the diagnostic information.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein:

instructing removal of the aerial vehicle from the conveyance device in the event the aerial vehicle fails the structural integrity test comprises instructing a first robotic manipulator to remove the aerial vehicle from the conveyance device; and

instructing removal of the aerial vehicle from the conveyance device in the event the at least one system of the aerial vehicle fails the functionality test comprises instructing a second robotic manipulator to remove the aerial vehicle from the conveyance device.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein causing placement of the aerial vehicle on the conveyance device comprises aligning the aerial vehicle with a set of alignment fiducials disposed on the conveyance device.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising enabling the aerial vehicle to take off from the conveyance device in the event the aerial vehicle passes the structural integrity test and the functionality test.