Modular drone and methods for use
First Claim
1. A drone comprising:
- a navigation unit configured to determine the location of the drone and navigate the drone to designated locations within a warehouse, wherein the designated locations form a first flight path that traverses the warehouse to pass within range of a plurality of inventory objects located inside the warehouse;
a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read RFID tag information from RFID tags associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse, wherein the RFID tag information comprises identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse; and
a wireless network transceiver configured to;
periodically transmit the location of the drone and RFID tag information including the identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse to an inventory management system, andreceive a second flight path comprising a set of search locations indicating one or more locations to where a missing inventory object might have been moved,wherein the navigation unit is further configured to, after the wireless network transceiver receives the second flight path, navigate through the set of search locations to locate the missing inventory object using the RFID reader.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a drone. The drone may include: a navigation unit configured to determine the location of the drone and navigate the drone to designated locations; a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read RFID tag information from RFID tags; and a wireless network transceiver configured to periodically transmit the location of the drone and RFID tag information to an inventory management system. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a drone. The method may include: receiving navigation path information; navigating the drone along the navigation path based on satellite location signals; determining current position information based on the satellite location signals; reading RFID tag information from a first RFID tag; and transmitting the RFID tag information and the current position information via a wireless client to a central computing system.
187 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A drone comprising:
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a navigation unit configured to determine the location of the drone and navigate the drone to designated locations within a warehouse, wherein the designated locations form a first flight path that traverses the warehouse to pass within range of a plurality of inventory objects located inside the warehouse; a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read RFID tag information from RFID tags associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse, wherein the RFID tag information comprises identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse; and a wireless network transceiver configured to; periodically transmit the location of the drone and RFID tag information including the identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse to an inventory management system, and receive a second flight path comprising a set of search locations indicating one or more locations to where a missing inventory object might have been moved, wherein the navigation unit is further configured to, after the wireless network transceiver receives the second flight path, navigate through the set of search locations to locate the missing inventory object using the RFID reader. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method performed by a drone, the method comprising:
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receiving, by the drone, navigation path information, wherein the navigation path information comprises a set of designated aerial locations forming a first flight path that traverses a warehouse to pass within range of a plurality of inventory objects located inside the warehouse; navigating along the navigation path based on satellite location signals, wherein navigating comprises flying from a first aerial location within the warehouse to a second aerial location within the warehouse; determining current position information based on the satellite location signals; reading radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag information from a first RFID tag associated with an inventory object of the plurality of inventory objects, wherein the RFID tag information comprises a first identifier associated with the inventory object; transmitting the RFID tag information including the identifier associated with the inventory object and the current position information via a wireless client to a central computing system including an inventory management system; receiving, by the drone, a search path information comprising a set of search aerial locations forming a search flight path, wherein the set of search aerial locations indicate one or more locations to where a missing inventory object might have been moved; and navigating along the search flight path through the set of search aerial locations to locate the missing inventory object by reading an RFID tag associated with the missing inventory object. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 20)
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15. A network system comprising:
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a plurality of RFID tags affixed to inventory objects located inside a warehouse, the RFID tags storing tag information identifying the inventory objects including identifiers associated with the inventory objects; a drone configured to; navigate the drone to designated locations within the warehouse, wherein the designated locations form a first flight path that traverses the warehouse to pass within range of a plurality of the inventory objects located inside the warehouse, read the tag information from at least one of the RFID tags affixed to the inventory objects located inside the warehouse, determine a location of the drone, wirelessly transmit the location of the drone and the read tag information, receive a second flight path comprising a set of search locations indicating one or more locations to where a missing inventory object might have been moved, and navigate through the set of search locations to locate the missing inventory object by reading an RFID tag affixed to the missing inventory object; and an inventory management system configured to; receive the RFID tag information including the identifiers associated with the inventory objects and drone location information from the drone, retrieve a record of the inventory object identified by at least one of the identifiers update the record with the location of the drone, identify a missing inventory object by determining, based on the received RFID tag information, that the missing inventory object is not located in an expected location of the missing inventory object, and transmit the second flight path to the drone to locate the missing inventory object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification